The Wearing Of Masks
by Wild Force Ranger
Summary: More than a year after Peter's visit to SPD, the Meta War finally breaks. As attacks and suspicion tear families and friends apart, each Meta...and nonMeta...must decide for themselves which side they're on... Heroes Xover. Sequel to Heroes Don't...
1. Chapter 1

Author's note: And the sequel finally arrives. Anyone who hasn't read Heroes Don't Always Wear Spandex, don't start here. You'll just be confused.

The Wearing Of Masks

SPD burned.

As an opening shot in the Meta War, it was about the most effective thing anyone could have done. Seeing SPD—the most powerful institution on the face of the planet—burning to the ground sent the civilians into panic while letting every Meta on the planet know that the war had come.

Isaac Mendez had been painting the war for five years. The Department of Meta Affairs, under Nathan Petrelli, had been founded in part to stop it. SPD themselves had been trying to prevent it, first from Earth and then, following Doggie Cruger's promotion, from Central Command. But even with all of their efforts, the war would not be averted. Delayed, yes, altered almost out of recognition, yes, but not stopped.

SPD's commander had time for one message, a scream for help from anyone who could hear. Central Command picked up the message and immediately dispatched every fighter they had on hand. SPD outposts around the universe sent manpower. And around the United States, five emergency beacons screamed and were answered.

All too late.

The five ex-members of B Squad, retired now for almost a year, found each other outside the ambulance where SPD's Earth Rangers were being treated. Sam, pale and shell shocked but mostly unhurt, had latched onto Z as soon as she'd arrived; he wasn't actually touching her, but was very firmly staying at her elbow. His team leader, still wearing the remains of her uniform—Sam was, too, but the green stripes had been smudged into grey by smoke and ash—was standing in the doorway of the ambulance, watching the remains of her team being treated. She looked much smaller than the last time Z had seen her, and she barely seemed to notice when Sky took her arm and eased her to one side so the ambulance could leave.

Bridge had gotten there before anyone, had been pulling cadets out until the firefighters had to pull him out, and now he was leaning against one of the few still-standing walls, coughing helplessly. The paramedics had checked him out—smoke inhalation, burns on his hands where he'd had to discard his gloves, cuts and bruising along one side where a support beam had fallen on him. Syd was hovering over him, offering her bottle of water every time he stopped coughing; he took it obediently each time, but the bandages on his hands made it hard to manage and any attempt at swallowing brought on another coughing fit anyway.

"Sam," Z said softly. "What's her name?"

Sam blinked. He was mildly dazed, but he didn't bother asking for clarification. "Nova."

"Nova?" Z repeated.

"She loves astronomy. She wanted to be posted to one of the outer planets."

"She still can, Sam," Z reminded him.

Sam's eyes, when he looked at her, were far too old for her liking. "SPD fell on her watch and half her team's out of action. Nova's never being reassigned anywhere. She'll never be a Ranger again."

Nova was standing behind Sam when Z looked up, but there was no anger or resentment in her eyes; only a terrible kind of resignation. Somehow that was even worse, and Z found herself on her feet and walking away without thinking about it.

Jack jogged across the road to meet her; there was a smudge of soot on his arm, a burn on his wrist and a fresh graze on his cheek. Jack had been looking for survivors long after the firefighters had declared it unsafe.

"DC's guys are gonna take everyone back to Central," he told her.

Z nodded, glancing at the huddled group of cadets and instructors. Even from here, she could tell there were far fewer than there should have been. "Jack…"

"Don't think about it," he advised her. "Think about what we're gonna do to this guy when we get him."

Z nodded. None of them doubted that a Meta had done this; the only doubt was could they stop him, if they could even find him. And if this was the start of the war Peter Petrelli had predicted, which side had just attacked them?

And all the time, above them, SPD burned.

* * *

In the year and a half since Nathan Petrelli had wandered through SPD and turned it upside down, Kat had come to appreciate something she'd been told then; that Peter Petrelli turned destiny on its' head without even trying.

As SPD's unofficial contact in the DMA—they had an official one, too, but he never learned anything from them—Peter had been in and out of SPD almost at will, usually accompanied by Matt and generally escorted within the grounds by Bridge. He tended to manage, without even trying, to be present when important things happened.

Like six months after Grumm's defeat, when Commander Birdie called to tell them he was retiring…and promoting Cruger to Head of SPD in his place.

To Kat, the move smelt of politics; even after settling their differences, Cruger and Birdie had never gotten on, each too set in his ways. But Cruger, who'd led his team to victory over Grumm and The Magnificence, carried more weight within SPD than anyone else. Maybe Birdie had simply bowed to the inevitable.

Or maybe, she thought, watching Peter congratulate Doggie, maybe he was bowed. It was uncanny how unnoticeable Peter had become; no one was ever surprised to see him anywhere on base, including sections that should have been off limits to him—although he always left when asked to, at least.

Doggie had taken Kat with him, promising her that this time, she could get her hands as dirty as she wanted. His last official act as Earth's Commander had been to promote Boom to Kat's old position; without crises to fluster him Boom did admirably well, regularly calling her with ideas for upgrades or completely new devices.

Unfortunately, his call two months after the mass promotions hadn't been so happy. Like yesterday, she could remember the fear in his voice when he reported Sky had been attacked, and the seemingly endless list of his injuries.

Kat and Isinia had been on a shuttle within ten minutes. Doggie, trapped by his responsibilities, listened and worried from Command HQ.

The new Earth Commander—Kerovan, she thought, or maybe Eltaran—had replaced or shuffled a lot of the staff, and Kat spent twenty minutes arguing over whether or not she was even allowed to look at Sky's chart. Z solved the problem by walking past, snatching the chart, dismissing the nurse before she could complain, and passing it to Kat without stopping or even slowing down.

Sky hovered near death for four days; long enough for his mother to be notified, for quiet words about wills and last wishes. When he opened his eyes to Syd it was brushed off as wishful thinking, at first, until he did it again while Kat was standing over him.

His hip was the biggest concern, once he woke up. It was crushed, and even after surgery he needed extensive rehabilitation. Which should have been no problem; the best medics on twenty planets worked for SPD. Unfortunately, the fussy little Eltaran had, for reasons unknown, decided that the best thing to do was dismiss Sky, leaving him totally unable to get the help he needed—though Peter offered it, and was refused. Even injured, Sky had no wish to be indebted to Nathan Petrelli or the DMA.

B Squad, or what remained of it, had threatened to leave if Sky wasn't reinstated. Their Commander, who really should have known better, had called their bluff, and they'd walked. Boom, Sam, and most of SPD had been ready to follow them; some hasty negotiation on Kat's part had prevented that just in time. Cruger did his best, but by that stage Sky wanted no part of an organization that would turn its back on its own, and the others refused to return without him. Cruger couldn't overturn the dismissal—he couldn't overrule internal matters—but he could and did increase their pensions, making sure Sky got the help he needed.

As though it had been an omen, Earth's SPD was suddenly unable to keep Rangers; they were promoted, or quit, or were injured and had to be taken off duty. The longest anyone had held the position now was three months, and that was Sam's squad, currently serving. Still too young, but luckily untested—Earth hadn't been attacked since Grumm had been defeated.

Until Earth's Commander had appeared on HQ's screens, screaming for help…and once again, Kat found herself in a shuttle, hastening towards Earth. This time Doggie was with her, silently looming behind the cadet assigned to fly them, tension all but visible in the air around them.

SPD was visible from space, or close enough, still burning fiercely even three hours after the attack. They'd been in touch with Jack, who was on the ground, and knew that the five ex-members of B Squad—including Sky—had returned to help; that something just over half the cadets and staff had been rescued, Boom included but not the Commander; and that it was now a total loss. Nothing else would be salvaged, the fire burning too hot for anything to remain.

Jack met them when the shuttle landed, quickly running through what had happened with Doggie. Kat ignored the recitation, scanning the area quickly. It was early morning, here—a shock to her system, coming from late afternoon at HQ—and the area was eerily lit by the fires behind them. The firefighters had given up on the building, concentrating on making sure the flames didn't spread instead. Though that didn't really seem to be a danger; the base was set far away from other buildings anyway, and the fire wasn't spreading as they'd expected it to.

Z was standing nearby, talking to Sky. Or at least, _at _Sky; Kat didn't think he was listening much. Syd and Bridge were just beyond them, Bridge staring at his bandaged hands, Syd prattling nervously in his ear without getting or looking for a response. Sam sat on Bridge's other side, filthy but obviously unhurt, and his team leader, the girl Nova, was standing with her back to him, face blank as she stared at the ambulances. As Kat watched, Sky stepped around Z and gently pulled Nova out of the way as the ambulances left.

Z watched for a moment before crouching to talk to Sam; Sky deposited Nova behind them, startling Z when she turned, and she headed away across the road. Jack excused himself to Cruger and chased after her, drawing her into a huddle in the nearest out-of-the-way spot, talking quickly and urgently.

Doggie paced up to her, hands clasped behind his back. "We are preparing to remove the survivors to headquarters," he told her. Kat nodded absently, still watching B Squad.

"What's the count?"

Doggie growled before answering. "We have lost almost half our personnel."

"Half?" Kat breathed. "Doggie…"

"Every outpost in the galaxy is sending manpower. We will rebuild."

"What about them?" Kat gestured towards Sam and Nova. The girl still didn't seem to fully realise where she was or what was happening.

Boom stumbled up to them before Doggie could answer. Never exactly ruddy, he was now deathly pale and, like everyone else, covered in grime.

"Boom." Kat laid a hand on his arm. "Are you ok?"

"What?" Boom's voice was too loud, and he looked oddly dazed. "I can't hear you!"

"Boom was down in the labs," Z explained as she joined them. Behind her, Jack was heading towards Sky. "There were some explosions when the fire reached chemical storage, he and a couple cadets were temporarily deafened. He's been checked out, though."

"What?" Boom said again.

"You're ok!" Z said loudly, and he nodded quickly.

"Yeah! Commander…" He looked at Doggie. "DMA representatives just arrived!"

"DMA?" Z repeated, frowning. "Why would they be here? As far as they know there's only Sam still here."

"Because everyone knows we've been working with them," Kat pointed out. "Boom, who…Boom!"

"What?" Boom jerked, startled. "I can't hear you!"

"We know. Who's here?"

Boom shook his head helplessly and Z repeated the question, louder. "Oh! Peter and Matt. Hiro brought them, but he didn't stay."

Kat's attention was caught by Jack and Sky, arguing loudly. Boom, who couldn't hear them, continued, "Nathan's ready to send anything else we need. Medical help or manpower to rebuild or whatever."

"We need no help from Nathan Petrelli," Cruger said. "Where is Peter?"

Boom frowned. "Where's Peter?—they're over there." He gestured towards the cadets, still waiting patiently to be taken to headquarters.

Doggie headed in that direction; Kat went towards Jack and Sky, who'd progressed past yelling to shoving. Boom, finally realising something was wrong, followed her. Z and Syd were already trying to break them up; Bridge, still unsteady on his feet, was leaning on Sam's shoulder, watching the fight. Nova stood next to him, eyes still blank.

"Stop!" Kat yelled, catching Jack's arm and heaving him away. Z stepped in front of him, blocking him from getting back to Sky, and Syd slipped in front of Sky. "What's going on here?"

"Nothing." Sky shook off Syd's restraining hand, taking a step backwards. "We're done. I'm leaving."

"Sky…"

"I'm _leaving,_ Kat," he repeated evenly, and after a moment she nodded.

"Ok, Sky. Keep in touch?"

Sky laughed, but there was no humour in the sound. "Yeah. I'll do that."

"Sky," Syd protested, but he'd already turned away and was gone.

Bridge swayed, leaning suddenly harder on Sam, and Jack moved to steady him. Kat realised for the first time that his gloves were gone, replaced by bandages that didn't cover enough of his hands to be safe, and that he was probably as sick from the emotions swirling around him as from his injuries. "Bridge?"

Bridge broke into a coughing fit but waved her off when she went to check on him, pantomiming that he was ok. The girls took over from Jack and Sam, steering him to sit on the nearest intact wall and watching him warily.

"He rescued Boom," Jack told her. "He breathed in all the chemicals down there. But he's gonna be ok."

"The same chemicals that deafened Boom?" Kat asked, more sharply than she'd meant.

"Yeah." If Jack was bothered by her tone, he didn't show it. "Heads up," he added a moment later.

"Heads…"

Kat cut herself off as Peter Petrelli stepped into her peripheral vision, looking beyond her at the fire. "Wow," he murmured, studying it for a long moment before turning to look at her. "Dr Manx."

"Mr Petrelli," she answered, nodding at Matt as he joined them. Once Matt had been Nathan's bodyguard. After Peter's first abduction, almost five years ago, he'd been reassigned as Peter's but maintained the illusion of protecting Nathan. In the last year that had ceased; he only ever worked for Peter now, while Nathan went through bodyguards at a steady pace. He was a hard man to deal with on a regular basis; only Mohinder Suresh, his advisor, had stayed with him for any length since Matt left.

"Mr Petrelli." Peter laughed softly. "Peter, please."

"Peter," she agreed, looking around for Doggie.

"He's over with the cadets," Peter told her. "Dr Manx, he won't accept any help from us. Can you…"

"SPD takes care of its' own," Jack said from Kat's other side.

Peter looked around her at Jack, eyebrows raised. "SPD's ashes."

"SPD Earth is burnt," Jack corrected him.

"The off-planet offices will step in." Kat was deliberately vague; Peter, and the DMA, had absolutely no jurisdiction within SPD and had no reason to know how it was organized. "There's people on the way right now, and we're taking the displaced cadets and instructors back to headquarters."

Peter nodded as though he'd known that, reaching out of habit to brush away the bangs he no longer wore. "Ok. What about you, Jack? I mean, your team? I know Syd and Z don't live in town, at least. The DMA has offices and housing here, we could put them up."

"They can stay with me," Jack said instinctively.

Matt shook his head. "Your shelter's full, Jack. You have people sleeping on the floor. There's only a housekeeper and one worker in the DMA office, it's no bother to put your people up."

"Kat!" Boom said suddenly, still overloud. "I'm going to stay here! They think we might be able to get back in later this morning, we need to see if there's anything left. Or if we can find out who did this."

"You should go back to headquarters," Kat said half-heartedly. Boom didn't hear her—or pretended he hadn't; he'd followed what Peter was saying well enough—and turned to Bridge, talking loudly about his theory.

"You know this was a Meta," Matt said, quietly enough that Boom didn't hear it. Jack did; she could feel him tense beside her.

"Do you know who it was?" she asked mildly, deliberately calm.

Peter shook his head, reaching for his bangs again. "Nathan's going through the List now. Anyone with any kind of pyrokinesis, anything, they're all being pulled in for questioning."

"Headquarters are going through our profiles as well," Kat agreed. "There are some aliens who could have done this."

"Are you pyrokinetic, Peter?" Jack asked. Matt hissed in a long, slow breath, because that went against the quiet agreement between SPD and the DMA; SPD pretended they didn't know about Peter and Nathan, and the DMA pretended the ex-B Squad weren't really Meta. The official contact existed only because on paper, active Rangers were considered Meta because of the extra abilities the Power granted them.

"I've never tried," Peter said unconcernedly. "I've probably met Pyrokinetics; I meet almost everyone, sooner or later." Ignoring Jack's next question, he added to Boom, "We'll put you up too, if you want. What about the kids, are they going?"

"They're Rangers, not kids," Kat said sharply.

Peter blinked, falling back a step instinctively. "Rangers. Sorry. Is…are they going with you to headquarters?"

"Are _you_ going to headquarters?" Jack asked quietly. Kat shrugged, still watching Doggie.

"I haven't spoken to Doggie yet. We'll have to, we'll have to co ordinate the repairs, but…" She shrugged, glancing at Peter as she added, "…Probably not yet."

She caught the odd look Matt was giving her and smothered her smile; it hadn't come up last time, but because Felinod brains worked differently than Humans, Matt was unable to read anything from her. Doggie was similarly protected.

Bridge and the girls joined them; Bridge still looked pale and shaky, but he was very determinedly not leaning on anyone. Syd's water bottle was clutched awkwardly in one hand. "What's going on?" he asked, looking from her to Jack to Peter and back again. Kat was surprised at how ragged his voice was; Boom, who must have breathed in just as much mess, didn't sound nearly as bad.

"Peter's just offering us some hospitality at the DMA centre in town," Jack told him, and then repeated himself, louder, for Boom.

"Why?" Bridge asked in surprise, glancing at Peter. "Everyone's going back to Command Central, aren't they?"

"You aren't," Matt said. "Boom isn't. The ki—the Rangers, they aren't."

Bridge glanced around for Sam and Nova; the boy was talking quietly to his leader, apparently unfazed by her lack of response. "No, I suppose they aren't," he murmured. Looking back at Matt, he added, "But I'm going home."

"Bridge, you can't go on your own," Syd protested. "You can't even stand up."

Bridge shook his head stubbornly. "I'm going home. I'll come back tomorrow and help, but I…" He broke off, coughing harshly, and Jack braced him quickly.

"I'll go with you, then," Syd said firmly, and Z nodded quickly.

"Yeah. We'll go." She bumped Jack lightly out of the way, replicating to prop Bridge up from both sides. Peter took a step back, shaking his head, and Matt moved quickly to his side.

"No, I'm fine," Peter murmured, watching the girls lead Bridge away. Refocusing on Jack, he asked, "What about you?"

"I should go after Sky," Jack said, but he was talking to Kat and Boom. "I'm sick of this loner thing he keeps doing, I thought we were over that."

"It's different now," Kat reminded him.

"Yeah, he screwed with everyone's careers, I know," Jack said impatiently. "They didn't do anything they didn't want, and he didn't do anything to my career anyway, I was long gone by then. Kat…"

He looked pointedly at Matt and Peter, who took the hint and immediately began talking loudly about rebuilding and drifted away slightly. Lowering his voice, Jack continued, "If this is the war, Kat? We need him. We need Sky, and I want him back on our side. This—what he's doing—it's no good for anyone."

Kat nodded quickly. "I agree, Jack, but I don't think he will."

"Doesn't matter. I'll beat it into him if I have to." He glanced over her shoulder. "I'll just talk to DC, and I'll go. I'll be back tomorrow, ok?"

"Yeah." Kat smiled at him. "Be safe, Jack."

Jack studied her quizzically; she waved him off, shaking her head, and he clapped a hand on Boom's arm before heading towards Doggie. The extra shuttles from headquarters were starting to arrive, and the cadets were beginning to move at last.

"What's wrong with him?" Boom asked, still too loud, and Kat shook her head wordlessly. "Sorry," he added, slightly quieter. "I can't hear how loud I am."

"It's ok," she said loudly, glancing at where Peter and Matt were still loudly discussing how best to rebuild from the skeleton that was left of SPD. Catching her gaze, they started back towards her, and she added to Boom, "Get Sam and Nova and bring them over here."

Nova! How had she come upon that nickname? Kat did not believe in coincidences; the girl who had come to bring Sam home had been dark haired, too, bore a striking resemblance to his squad leader, and had identified herself as Nova. Kat hadn't shared that bit of information with anyone; but while Boom worked, quite openly, on the Omega Morpher, Kat worked quietly on its mate, the Nova. She had worried, for a while, because Nova led a six-man team; but two of her cadets would never fight again, too badly broken though they'd live, and while the other two would fight it was unlikely they'd do it for SPD.

Everyone reached her at the same time and she turned to Sam first. "Sam, Peter's offered you somewhere to stay. Jack did, too, but I think he's a bit full at the moment."

"Stay with Peter?" Sam repeated.

"Not _with_ Peter. In the DMA centre in town. Boom's going too." Kat elbowed Boom. "You're going too!"

"Going where?" Boom said blankly.

"Is he still deaf?" Sam rolled his eyes. Kat smiled faintly; Sam was very fond of Boom, but the eye-roll was so normal for a teen dealing with an adult.

"I could get a doctor to the centre," Peter offered. "Take a look at Boom. Make sure he's ok."

"I've been looked at!" Boom rubbed absently at one ear and added, not as quietly as he probably thought, "he had bloody cold hands, too."

Nova was smiling when Kat looked back at her and she blinked in surprise. "Nova?"

"Yeah," the girl agreed quietly.

Sam grinned. "Hi."

"Hi," she murmured.

Matt took a sudden step forward. "You know what? Why don't we just go over here a bit, ok? Just for a couple of minutes."

Nova let him steer her away, but not before Kat had seen the tears spilling down her cheeks. Sam, looking as anguished as she'd ever seen him, chased the pair as they went.

"Matt's good at that," Peter assured her. "Look, let me take the kids…"

"Rangers," she and Boom corrected him automatically.

"Kids," he repeated firmly. "Let me get them somewhere to sleep, something to eat and a shower. Then take them back. I'm guessing if you take them to headquarters now there's going to be debriefing and stuff, right?"

Kat grimaced, sharing an uneasy look with Boom. "I'll stick with them," Boom promised quietly.

"Get Doggie," Kat said, just as quietly. Boom nodded, heading away, and she wondered for half a second if his hearing had cleared or if he knew her that well.

Or he was reading her lips. Hard to tell with him.

Peter was watching her when she turned back. Beyond him, Nova was sitting on the nearest piece of wall, sobbing quietly. Sam was sitting beside her, curled against her, and Matt was crouched in front of her, one hand on her knee, murmuring softly.

"You still don't trust us?" Peter asked conversationally.

"It's not a question of trust, Peter. I'm responsible for…"

"You're not even based on Earth anymore." He honestly sounded curious; it was the only reason she hadn't simply walked away from him.

"It doesn't matter. They're SPD." She studied him for a moment. "Isn't there anyone you feel responsible for?"

"Yeah." Peter's eyes darkened and he looked away, ostensibly watching Matt talk to Nova. "Yeah, there is."

"It's not personal," she added. "But…I don't want the DMA near them right now. Not in this state."

"Fair enough." He still wasn't looking at her. "Nathan won't know about it, then."

"Peter…"

"I don't _work _for the DMA, Kat. Just help Nathan out, sometimes; makes him feel better if he knows where I am." He reached for his bangs again, scowling when he touched nothing.

"When did you cut them?" Kat asked, deliberately using the non-sequitur to try and ease the tension.

"Cut…oh, I don't know. A while." He shrugged, trying to tug on them again. "Easier this way."

"Yeah. I suppose."

Doggie arrived then, and she quickly explained what was happening. Mildly distracted, Doggie cut across her explanation to thank Peter for his offer, accept it on the Rangers' behalf, and order Boom to stay with them. Then he took Kat with him to help with the evacuation.

Slightly stunned by the speed, Boom retreated behind his semi-deafness again and babbled loudly—and increasingly panicked—at Peter until Matt came to rejoin them. Peter's car, dispatched by Nathan even as Hiro was bringing them his way, was waiting, and the five left SPD burning behind them.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's note: Chapter 2! Enjoy.

The Wearing of Masks

Jack walked quickly through the streets of New Tech city, his mind focused on one target - Sky Tate. He knew, as did the other members of the former B Squad, that Sky blamed himself for their mass resignations and he also knew that there was no way of convincing him otherwise - despite the successes they'd gone on to have. Syd was a singer now, with a glittering career and a lifestyle that most people could only dream about; Z was working with at-risk children in Silverhills and Bridge, of all things, was teaching electronics at a polytechnic college in Angel Grove - he wasn't sure if he pitied the students or not, although in all fairness Bridge didn't ramble or go off on tangents as much as he used to. That just left him and Sky in New Tech and it should be strange that Sky was the one he knew the least about, but it wasn't - this _was_ Sky, after all.

Enough was enough though. Sky had still come to help when everything went to hell, that meant that in spite of everything he still cared. Or at least, he still felt responsible for the cadets he'd trained. He scowled as the angry words from earlier echoed in his mind, torn between regret for what he'd said and knowing that he'd had to say it anyway - no one else would. Sky was isolating himself, cutting himself off from the world and he wasn't about to let that happen, not again, especially not now. Not when the war they'd been waiting for, the war they'd hoped would never come, had finally erupted.

He hesitated outside Sky's door, wondering if Sky was back yet - he'd taken the short cut, but Sky'd had a pretty fair head-start on him so he could be back by now. Bracing himself he rapped on the door and waited to see if it would open. If Sky wasn't back yet, he'd wait until he was - this conversation had been a long time coming and it wouldn't wait any longer.

The door opened and Sky stood there, arms folded, expression flat and forbidding. Too bad that look hadn't worked on him. Ever.

"What do you want?" was the hostile question but Jack ignored the tone, shrugging casually, hands shoved in his pockets.

"We didn't finish our conversation," he replied lightly. "Thought we'd finish it here. At least that way by the time we get to yelling at each other and throwing punches there won't be anyone around to interrupt us this time." He was only partially joking about throwing punches - he didn't think they'd get to that point, but it wasn't something he'd bet on. They'd gotten pretty close to it before, back at what was left of the base, before the girls had forcibly broken them apart.

"I don't have anything to say to you," Sky told him dismissively and shut the door in his face. Again, too bad that trick didn't work on him either. He stepped through the closed door without a second thought.

"You know," he said calmly, "if you're going to shut the door in a guy's face, you might want to make sure it's not someone who can walk through it anyway."

Sky turned back to face him, not looking the least bit surprised to see him standing in the middle of the room. "I don't have anything to say to you," he repeated and Jack shrugged again.

"Fine. Then you can listen."

The former blue ranger turned away. "Go away, Jack."

"Not gonna happen. You know what's happening, Sky. This is the war the Petrellis warned us about, the Meta war. Only someone who was pyrokinetic could do that kind of damage to the Delta base, you know that as well as I do." There was no response and Sky was avoiding his gaze.

Jack took a quick glance around the apartment, gathering his thoughts into something resembling order, and mentally noted that if he hadn't known otherwise he would never have believed Sky lived here. Oh, it wasn't a mess by most people's standards, but by Sky's anal tidiness? the place was a dump - the past few months had not been good to Sky, although that was partly the ex-ranger's own fault, his stubbornness wouldn't let him accept help from anyone and he was literally self-destructing. Well, not anymore; they needed the old Sky back and he was going to do that, one way or another. "Look," he said, moderating his tone slightly so it was less confrontational, "I know how important SPD was to you and--"

"What do you know?" Sky spat, his anger showing through now. "You have no idea--"

"SPD was your life!" Jack yelled back. "We all knew that, Sky, you think we didn't? This is hard for all of us and I know how you must be feeling, but--"

"Don't pretend you know what I feel," Sky hissed. "You have no idea."

"Then tell me!" Jack snapped, body tensing, readying itself for the fight he knew was coming. "Tell me, because you can't keep it all in, I thought you'd learned that by now." Although the odds of Sky simply _talking_ about this were about the same as Gruumm finding religion and repenting his sins, dedicating his life to helping small children and mistreated animals.

"I don't have to tell you anything." Yeah, that's what he'd thought. _Typical Sky, could never do things the easy way._

"The hell you don't. You haven't been yourself since you left and the Sky _I_ know wouldn't just sit back and do nothing except feel sorry for himself while a war comes crashing down on us. You're bitter which is understandable, but people have died, Sky and more are going to die if we don't _do_ something. You can't stay out of this, and the Sky I know wouldn't." The Sky he knew would be the first to start planning strategy, how best to defend themselves against another attack, how to organise and restructure to the best of their abilities.

"Well, maybe you don't know me as well as you thought."

It was almost a physical blow, that last cutting statement; flat, hard, unforgiving and Sky's eyes bored into him, the bitterness so obvious you wouldn't need to be an ESPer to read it there. They'd left Sky alone because they thought he needed space to get himself back together and start letting them in again, but maybe that had been a mistake. Letting Sky deal with everything on his own had simply reinforced his isolation and they were paying for it - Sky wasn't the same, not even close, and he hadn't even been like when Jack had first met him. Sure, he'd been closed off and resentful but there wasn't the bitterness that was here now.

"No," he said stiffly. "I guess you're right, I don't know you anymore. Maybe I never did."

That said, he turned on his heel and headed out of Sky's apartment before he said something he'd regret later and wouldn't be able to fix.

* * *

Sky watched Jack go, his hands clenching reflexively as the former red ranger stalked out of his apartment, until his anger vanished a moment later - replaced with chagrin and frustration. _Oh, well done,_ he told himself derisively. _That went well_.

Jack hadn't even bothered to use the door as he left, walking straight through the wall and that said a lot about how upset the other man had been. Normally Jack respected the fact that most people couldn't walk through solid matter, but when he was upset or angry enough he forgot that little things like walls and closed doors were supposed to be barriers and just walked right through them. In times like these, when it wasn't a good thing to be seen as Meta, it would take a lot for Jack to forget his survival instincts like that and risk drawing attention to himself, unless he was trying to make a point anyway, but obviously he hadn't been thinking straight as he left. _Well, of course he wasn't_, he snapped to himself. _He was pissed off, who thinks clearly when they're that angry?_ Not him, that was for sure, and he'd spent so much of his early time around Jack angry, you'd think he'd be used to it by now, but apparently that wasn't the case.

He sighed as even the frustration drained out of him, leaving behind something very like despair. At least Jack had come after him in the first place, that said something, and what had he done? What he always did - pushed him away. Every time Jack, or anyone else, got too close, or tried to get close, he pushed them away. He'd thought he'd gotten over that reaction a long time ago but it seemed that he hadn't. Or maybe in the year since he'd been kicked out of SPD he'd fallen back into his old habits. A humourless smile touched his lips - Jack had been right about one thing, he _was_ bitter and more than just a little. SPD had been his life and to have it all taken away from him the way it had been… well, he defied anyone to _not_ be angry about it, but that didn't mean he should take it out on the people closest to him. They'd rallied around him at what was the darkest moment of his life to date and at the time he'd appreciated the support their resignations had given him, appreciated it more than he could admit to himself, let alone them, but whether they agreed or not, he'd effectively destroyed their careers. It didn't matter that they'd gone on to do other things with their lives, they'd all had bright futures ahead of them with SPD and he'd ruined that for them, which was partly why he'd pulled away from them in the first place. Or mostly why he'd pulled away.

He walked tiredly over to the sink and stared down into the full bowl of washing that needed doing - unable to quite comprehend how it had mounted up the way it had - before turning his back on it again with a sigh. It had waited this long, it could wait a while longer. His eyes wandered back to the wall Jack had stormed through and the wave of loneliness he'd been suppressing in the months that had followed his dismissal from SPD washed over him, refusing to be ignored anymore. He knew what he was doing, knew how self-destructive it was and he didn't like the person he'd become since the attack that had ended his career. He just didn't know how to stop and reach out to someone again.

* * *

Peter walked into Nathan's meeting, told him, "You need to hear this," and walked out again before he could react.

Nathan had spent all day in hastily-convened meetings, running on too much coffee and too little information. Peter's information…the one time he'd actually answered his phone…was too sketchy, even for Peter, and Matt hadn't been much better; the conversations had been full of "Well, we don't know yet," and "They're not sure" and "We'll know more later." The last thing he'd heard was from SPD's official liaison, calling from the DMA centre to warn him that Matt and Peter had dropped off three refugees from the SPD base without stopping to explain. Hiro, sent to retrieve them, came back alone, claiming they'd refused his help.

Nathan now dismissed the group he'd been meeting with…some of the highest ranking people in the country…and headed for the office Peter customarily used when he was in the building. Though he didn't officially work for the DMA, he spent a lot of time near Nathan for the sake of his occasionally tenuous control and did occasionally take jobs when Nathan asked him to.

Matt was leaning against the wall just inside the door; Nathan barely acknowledged him, eyes on Peter, who was sitting with his head in his hands. "Pete?"

"I'm fine," Peter said without looking up. "It just…I'm fine."

Nathan moved around the desk, crouching and touching the side of Peter's face. "Ok?"

"Yeah." Peter dropped his hands, meeting Nathan's eyes finally. "Yeah, I'm ok."

"Ok," Nathan repeated, shoving back to his feet and leaning against the wall where he was; he could see both of them from here. "So what happened down there?"

"Manx thinks it may have been an alien," Peter told him. "But it was one of us, Nathan."

Nathan nodded. "We're still checking the List, but we've picked up three pyrokinectics in and around New Tech so far. What's the damage?"

"The base was totally razed. There's nothing left." Matt pushed off the wall, dropping into the chair in front of the desk. "They lost something like forty four percent of their staff and cadets."

"Jesus," Nathan breathed. Peter's eyes were locked on the desk in front of him, and Nathan leaned over to touch his shoulder. "Peter, was that…"

Peter flinched away from him. "Don't. I'm…just don't, ok?"

Nathan glanced at Matt, who shrugged faintly.

"I'm fine," Peter repeated irritably. "I'm just tired, ok?"

"Yeah," Nathan agreed. Turning away, he filled a glass of water and offered it to Peter. Peter stared at it; grimacing, Nathan set it down on the desk and then retreated to stand beside Matt's chair. _It must have been bad, _he thought, _to trigger Peter's personal space issues so hard._ Peter had worked hard to overcome those issues and they only resurfaced when he was overwhelmed or really tired.

Peter took the glass, staring at it. "The Rangers were there," he said dully.

"The Ran…the current ones? One of them's Meta, isn't he?"

Peter didn't answer, staring into his glass, and Matt hurried to fill in. "No. I mean, yes he is, and yes he was there…not much hurt, either…but he means the old ones. The ones who were active when we were there. Bridge and the others."

"He one of the kids you dropped off at the DMA?"

"Rangers," Matt said automatically, but Peter was looking up.

"What? Nathan?"

"You dropped three people off," Nathan reminded him.

Peter gestured impatiently. "I know that, I'm not…who told you?"

Nathan blinked, blanking on the name. "The guy down there. The liaison. He said you dropped three people off and left."

"Boom, Sam and Nova," Matt told him. "Sam's the Meta, he teleports things."

"I remember, he helped us catch Mareesa," Nathan agreed absently. "Pete?"

"I told Kat you wouldn't hear about it," Peter informed his glass. "She doesn't want the DMA getting near the ki—the Rangers. They're a bit…shaken up."

"Ok," Nathan agreed easily. "No one else goes down there, then."

Peter lowered his glass back to the table, placing it very carefully and deliberately. "I need some rest," he said to no one in particular. "What else do you need to know?" he added, looking up to meet Nathan's gaze. "For your meetings?"

"I need to know who did this and how it could happen," Nathan said. "But since you don't know that…"

"It happened because it's the War, Nathan." Peter said it as though Nathan should have known, as though he were remiss for not seeing it at once.

"We _stopped _the War. Isaac's paintings had it starting almost a year ago."

"We delayed it. We didn't stop it. It's happening, now, and SPD was the first victim."

Nathan glanced at Matt, who shrugged. "Don't look at me. You pay me to hit things."

"I pay you to watch Peter," Nathan snapped, too frustrated to watch what he was saying. Peter knew he needed help, even without constantly getting kidnapped. But his pride made it hard for him to accept help from anyone, even Nathan, and all involved made the effort to pretend he didn't need it.

"Thanks," Peter murmured, and Nathan grimaced at him.

"Isaac hasn't been painting anything lately," Nathan pointed out.

"Yes, he has," Peter said. "He just hasn't been showing it to anyone because it doesn't make any sense. It's all just…fire, or there's a big black one…"

Nathan eyed him warily. "Have you been painting?"

"No."

Nathan kept eyeing him, and Peter caught the look. "No, Nathan, I haven't been painting, or drawing, or doodling. Not for months."

"Why not?"

"I didn't like what I was drawing. So I stopped. Why? Isaac kept painting. We didn't need me as well."

Nathan shook his head quickly. "No, I know. That's not what I meant."

The momentary flash of anger faded and Peter rubbed at his face. "Yeah. Sorry." Nathan leaned across the desk towards him, and he jerked backwards out of reach. "Don't do that. I'm _fine._"

"Yeah," Nathan murmured, leaning back again. "Yeah. Listen, you want to head home?"

Peter made a face, getting up to refill his glass. "No. Claire's at home, right? I'm not…I probably shouldn't be around people right now."

"OK," Nathan agreed. Peter's office was deliberately far from everyone else so that, when he overloaded, he could recover in privacy. "But I have to go."

"Matt'll hang around. That's what you pay him for, right?" Peter even almost managed to keep the bitterness out of his voice.

"Pete…" Nathan started, but Peter waved him off.

"No, never mind, I didn't mean that. Go back to your meeting."

Nathan nodded, heading for the door, and paused just inside. "Peter? You know this wasn't your fault, right? There's no way you could have known. Nothing you could have done."

"Yeah." Peter sat back down, rubbing at the bridge of his nose. "I know that, Nathan. Doesn't make it any easier."

"No…Matt? Talk to you for a second?"

"Yeah," Matt agreed, levering himself to his feet. "Peter, I'm gonna get you something to eat, ok?"

"Not hungry," Peter said automatically, folding his arms on the desk and laying his head on them.

"Uh-huh, sure. Won't be long." Matt followed Nathan out, closing the door behind them.

Nathan waited until they were halfway down the corridor before asking, "Is he ok?"

Matt's eyes were far away. "It was bad there, Nathan. Half their people died. Most of them thought they were gonna…and I wasn't even listening. They were broadcasting so hard it was almost overwhelming. That Meta, Bridge, he was in trouble…he focuses his shielding through his gloves, anchors them that way, and he'd burnt his hands."

"No gloves," Nathan murmured. "And Peter?"

"I'm not sure. He was ok while we were there; he talked to Cruger, and to Kat and some of the others, and he was fine. But it's drained him."

"Yeah. Try and get him to rest."

"Trying to get him to stay awake'd be harder," Matt said wryly, pausing as the corridor split. "I'm gonna get him something to eat; he hasn't had anything since we left here this morning."

"Yeah, about that," Nathan said to his back. Matt paused, looking back, and Nathan continued, "Peter came bursting into my office, demanding to leave, before any reports hit the news. Before anything had even happened, almost; within five minutes of the attack starting. How'd he know?"

Matt shrugged. "How does Peter do the things he does? Maybe he had a vision."

"Did he? You were with him."

Matt frowned. "Nathan…"

"Did he?" Nathan repeated, and Matt shook his head.

"I was in the toilet, Nathan. I had to chase him up six flights of stairs, and he was flying." Matt grimaced at the memory.

"Yeah," Nathan murmured again. "Well, however he found out, I guess it was lucky for us, huh? I'll start petitioning Congress for aid."

"SPD won't accept it. But go ahead. I'm gonna…" Matt gestured over his shoulder towards the canteen, and Nathan waved him off.

By the time Matt got back to the office Peter was on his feet, pacing in a fairly erratic circle. Matt stepped around him to leave the tray on the desk; Peter dropped into one of the seats, poking listlessly at it.

"Mystery meat. Wonderful." He dropped the fork, looking up at Matt. "Well?"

"It's fine. He's still on our side." Seating himself opposite Peter, he added, "For now."


	3. Chapter 3

Author's note: Ok, I know you guys are reading, and I know some of you are putting me on alert...how come no one's reviewing?

The Wearing of Masks

Chapter 3

Over the next week Jack watched in disbelief as the world went to hell.

The day after the attack…or at least, later in the morning of the attack…he returned to SPD to help where he could. Bridge, the girls, Kat and Doggie were all there, with some of the manpower sent from other SPD bases. Sky hadn't shown, though he wasn't expected. Oddly, neither had Boom, Sam or Nova.

Bridge, hands still bandaged and ribs still bruised, was banned from doing anything physical and mostly relegated to carrying water and fresh face masks for everyone. The fires were out, but there was a lot of heat and ash in the air and no one could handle it for very long. The girls worked in what was, for them, unusual silence, though Z could be excused; she'd created four replicates, and that was the extreme limits of her powers.

Peter and Matt reappeared around lunchtime. Boom and the kids were with them, Nova now responding to the people around her; the kids pitched straight in to help, casually avoiding Kat and Doggie. Boom, however, made his way straight to his superiors.

"Boom," Kat said in relief. "How are you?"

"Better!" Boom said cheerfully, still just a shade too loud. "I can hear almost everything!"

"Good," Kat said, smiling. "And the kids?"

"They're ok, I think. Didn't sleep much. Nova…" he trailed off, turning to look at the girl, and then added to Doggie, "You should let them stay here for a while."

"They are needed at headquarters," Doggie reminded him.

Boom looked back at him in surprise. "Sorry?"

Before Doggie could repeat himself Sam yelled for Boom's help; the tech headed off to help them, passing Peter and Matt on the way. Peter halted a respectful distance from Doggie, greeting him politely before acknowledging Kat.

"Commander Cruger, I've come to offer…"

"We want no help from you," Cruger said, cutting him off without apology.

"No, you've made that clear," Peter agreed without resentment. "I was going to say, the Rangers can stay in the centre as long as they want to."

"The Rangers will be returning with us to headquarters tonight," Cruger told him, turning away.

"Leaving so soon?" Matt asked, honestly surprised. "I thought you'd be staying longer."

"Unfortunately, other events require our presence at headquarters. But we will leave sufficient manpower here to begin rebuilding."

Peter nodded, catching Kat's eye. "We have to get back to Washington; Nathan's waiting for us. But anyone who needs it is welcome to anything the centre can provide."

Kat nodded in acknowledgment and the pair wandered away, pausing to call goodbye to Sam and Nova before disappearing past the blockade at the edge of the square. It occurred to her, briefly, to wonder how they got past it, but the thought vanished when Cruger growled.

"I do not trust him," he announced.

_This is news? _Kat thought, but what she said was "They didn't even stay in the centre, Doggie, they went back to DMA headquarters. They weren't with the kids for more than twenty minutes."

Cruger growled again. "Nevertheless…" He let the thought trail off as Jack came towards him to ask something.

As the day drew to a close Kat called Sam and Nova to board the shuttle. Both protested, however, wanting to stay on Earth and continue to help with the rebuilding. Boom backed them, which was odd for him, but no one was exactly themselves right now.

Temporarily leaving them, Kat called Jack and Z for a quick conference. "They want to stay," she said quietly. "Boom's willing to stay with them, and Peter's already offered the DMA centre for as long as they need it."

"But?" Jack prodded.

"I don't like it," she murmured. "Doggie and I _have _to go; we can't justify staying here anymore. No one's in danger and there's enough manpower from the other bases to protect Earth if anything happens. But I don't like leaving them here; they're still active and it's dangerous to leave them without backup."

Jack frowned, folding his arms. "If they go back with you, what happens?"

"Debriefs, mostly. Physicals."

"For how long?" Z asked quietly, watching Sam talk to Nova. Though the older girl was responsive, now, she still wasn't eager to talk to anyone if she could avoid it.

"Until they get an answer they can accept. No other planet has a Meta population; they don't understand the way we do."

"That's not what they need right now." Jack all but spoke over her. "Dwelling on it's not going to help them."

"No," Kat agreed. "But it has to be done."

"Not yet," Z said, turning away from Sam to look at Kat. "Let them help out here for a bit first. It'll give them a chance to feel like they've accomplished something before you lock them in debriefs and interrogations."

"Nova's expecting to be removed as a Ranger and probably fired from SPD," Jack agreed. "Let her do something good first."

"She's not going…" Kat trailed off. She couldn't promise Nova's safety, because it was likely she would be let go. Earth's base had fallen while under her protection, and the council would be looking for someone to blame for that. "If Sam follows her out of SPD," she said instead, "you guys are in trouble, Z."

"No one said they _had _to follow our example," Z said unconcernedly. "We left for our teammate. Sam doesn't have to."

"You should let them stay a while," Jack added.

Kat frowned. "That's what Boom said."

"Boom's been with them, right? He'd know."

"Yeah," Z agreed.

Kat nodded slowly. "I'll talk to Doggie."

Doggie agreed, finally; there'd be shuttles running to and from headquarters for weeks to come. Sam and Nova could take any of those, as long as they were there by the end of the week. Sam and Nova, on being told, both promised faithfully that they would be there by then and went to round Boom up to head back to the centre.

Syd and Z went with Bridge back to his mother's house. Jack headed back to the halfway house, and the SPD workers set up temporary housing in the grounds of the once-great base.

And that night, everything on the grounds burned once again.

* * *

After the third lot of new workers barely escaped with their lives, Cruger put a temporary halt on any SPD personnel coming on-planet. Sam and Nova were given replacement mecha and extra personnel were stationed in a research lab on the moon; that was as close as they could get. Whoever was attacking SPD wasn't bothering to be circumspect anymore; shuttles bearing the SPD logo burned up in the atmosphere. The mecha made it down only because they were unmarked and unmanned.

Jack hadn't seen any of his friends since the second day. He'd stayed on base after the first lot of workers were burned out; Cruger ordered him home when the second lot were attacked, and though he didn't have to obey he was too tired to fight. That was the night of the second day; by the time he made it back on the third morning the survivors had already withdrawn. SPD was cut off from Earth.

And Jack seemed to be cut off from his former colleagues. The workers in the DMA centre were always polite, but Boom and the others never seemed to be available. Bridge's mother told him Bridge and the girls had left on the second day and not come back, and she didn't know where they were; they didn't answer their beacons or comms. In desperation Jack went to Sky, who didn't open the door and wouldn't talk to him when he phased through anyway. Nothing Jack said or did made any difference and he forced himself to leave before he hit his one-time 2IC.

Back at the halfway house Piggy was gone; like a lot of the aliens who lived on Earth, he was making himself scarce now that SPD had fallen. Piggy had been a criminal, sort of, but he'd helped SPD and it was well known he now worked with Jack. Several other workers and regulars had gone or were going, and several humans he knew or suspected were Meta had quietly dropped out of sight as well.

The day after that, the AAS made its' first move.

* * *

The AAS, according to the official report, were a Meta group concerned with protecting Earth in the absence of SPD. To that end, they called on Nathan Petrelli and the DMA to make available the List of all known Meta, to enable recruiting drives.

Nathan was on air within twenty minutes to assure Metas and their families that the List would not be made public. The laws that had created the DMA, laws written mostly by Nathan himself in his days in Congress, guaranteed the privacy of those who registered. The President himself could not legally demand to see the List; the only one who could see it was the Head of the DMA, currently Nathan. The AAS, he told the world, would have to look for volunteers the same way the Armed Forces did.

And the day after that four DMA centres around the country were destroyed simultaneously.

* * *

The day after the attacks on the DMA centres, Nathan went back on air to announce the creation of the DMA Protection Agency, to be headed up by Matt Parkman. Every DMA centre around the country would now have its' own security force, made up of both Meta and non Meta, to protect against this kind of attack. D'MAPA, as they were quickly nicknamed, would have no authority outside the centres but once on those grounds, the public were warned, they had free reign.

Nathan overrode objections to his creating what was in effect a private army by pointing out that in most cities and towns, the centres doubled as research centres and places for Metas to practise their gifts, especially children. In two of the attacks people had died; children had died. Nathan's family, including his brother, were there to support him, and when he opened the floor most of the questions were directed at Peter.

That was the end of any objections. Peter charmed the reporters into agreeing that this was for the best, and the conference closed on a high.

That was day six.

By the end of day seven, the major cities of America had been reduced to war zones.


	4. Chapter 4

Author's note: Thanks, Lazy Jackit! You're not supposed to know what's happening yet. All will be explained, I promise.

Thanks Tina:: Waves ::

The wearing of Masks

Chapter Four

Cautiously, Jack made his way through the remains of the most recently attacked place in New Tech. It seemed a small thing to do, when across the country cities were burning, but it was all he could do at the moment. No longer red ranger, he no longer had the power to protect any of those places. He didn't even have the power to protect the people he cared about the most. He may not have agreed with all of the rules that SPD regulated its life with, but over the time he'd spent there he'd come to love it regardless, and that someone had seen fit to burn it down, not once but twice, left him with a helpless anger that needed an outlet and this was all he could do. If there was anything left here that could tell him something, this little field trip would have been worth it.

It wasn't even simply the destruction of SPD that ate away at him, although that was most of it, but the newly formed AAS freaked him out as well. There was a connection between their appearance and the burning of the Delta base, he just didn't know what it was - if it was a response to the attack on SPD as they claimed, or if they were using it as a cover for some reason of their own. This place, all that was left of New Tech Observatory, had been the latest target of the AAS and he just wanted to see if there was anything left that could tell him why. Coming up to a door that looked like it had been welded shut by intense heat, he pushed at it experimentally, then shrugged when it didn't budge and walked through anyway.

And of course, the AAS weren't the only other problem either. There was D'MAPA as well, and he didn't trust them as far as Boom could throw them. Private armies didn't sit well with him, let alone private armies under the control of Nathan Petrelli.

Caught up in his thoughts, Jack barely had time to realise he wasn't paying as much attention as he should be, as he walked practically head first into someone else and he jumped back, automatically falling into a defensive stance, ready to attack if he had to. Or not, as it turned out. Sky was staring back at him, also standing ready to attack, and part of Jack's mind was pleased to note that his former second in command hadn't lost as much of his edge as he'd thought. They relaxed at the same time, alert levels dropping slightly.

"Sky? What're you doing here?" he asked, surprise at seeing the former blue ranger making his tone sharper than he'd planned.

Sky's eyes narrowed and he stiffened, withdrawing again. "I could ask you the same thing."

Jack crossed his arms. "Investigating. Seeing if the AAS left anything behind that would tell us something."

"Likewise," was the cool response and he forced himself to relax, defuse the charged atmosphere.

"Well, okay. Two heads are better than one, right? Do this together?" It was a tentative attempt at reaching out and he hoped it wasn't about to be thrown in his face. Sky studied him for a long moment then shrugged, some of the tension leaving him.

"Sure. Why not?"

It wasn't exactly a ringing vote of confidence, but it was a step in the right direction and they moved off along the corridor together, exchanging information and trying to work out how it fitted together. It was almost like old times, Jack thought, as he and Sky fell back into their familiar rhythms of sniping at each other and exchanging casual insults. Despite the circumstances, Jack felt himself smiling. He hadn't realised until now how much he'd missed this. Until he put his foot in it.

A teasing comment about Sky's tendency to play lone wolf and how 'those were the days' and Sky tensed up, pulling back again. "Oh come on," he said. "I didn't mean it like that."

"Yeah, whatever."

"Sky, I was kidding." But it was too late. Damn Sky and his touchy pride, he thought in frustration.

"You know what? You want to do this by yourself, be my guest. I wouldn't want to get in your way."

"Sky--"

He was talking to thin air, Sky going back the way they'd come, leaving Jack alone in the burnt out ruins of the observatory.

* * *

Looking around more warily now that he no longer had Sky watching his back, Jack's eyes widened and relief washed over him at the sight of Bridge crouching down, studying something. It looked like he and Sky weren't the only ones who'd decided to do some unofficial investigating. About to announce his presence to his friend, something held him back, a cold chill slithering down his spine at some undefined sense of wrongness. Stepping back into the shadows, Jack quickly tried to pin down where his unease was coming from - he shouldn't be having his instincts warning him about one of his best friends. But he was, he realised and he couldn't deny it even if he couldn't explain it. Something was off with Bridge.

He peeked back round the corner in time to see Bridge pick something up and it was then he noticed that Bridge wasn't wearing his gloves. It wasn't a simple case of the former green ranger using his abilities to scry the area, the familiar leather gloves were nowhere to be seen; not held in one hand or tucked into a pocket - they just weren't there. Another _frisson_ of unease traveled down Jack's spine. Why wasn't Bridge wearing his gloves?

"You can come out, Jack. I know you're there."

He started in surprise at Bridge's calm statement, then braced himself and stepped into his former team-mates view.

"Didn't want to disturb a master at work," he said lightly and Bridge smiled.

"Why are you here, Jack?"

He shrugged. "Lookin' around. Trying to figure out who did this."

"The AAS."

"You know that for sure?"

There was another smile from Bridge, one that was incredibly unnerving. It practically screamed 'I know something you don't know.' "This is me, Jack."

Jack held up his hands in a placating gesture as he restudied the room. "Good point."

"Am I making you nervous, Jack?" Bridge asked, tone amused and Jack whipped his head back round to stare at the younger man. He had a lot of experience at hiding when he was uneasy or nervous; on the streets any sign of weakness made you a target so he'd learned a long time ago to keep those feelings well hidden. For Bridge to know he was uneasy about him… he had to be reading him.

"You reading me, Bridge?" he asked casually, shoving his hands in his pockets and leaning against the nearest stable wall.

"You didn't answer my question," was the neutral response.

"And you're not answering mine. I think that makes us even, don't you, Bridge?" For the first time in two plus years, Jack was wary about having an ESPer as a close friend. He'd long gotten over his concerns about Bridge reading his mind but now all those fears came flooding back. He no longer knew, deep down, that Bridge would respect his privacy and stay out of his head and he didn't know how to deal with that. Except by putting as much distance between them as possible.

"You haven't wanted that kind of distance for a long time, Jack."

That clinched it. "Damn it, Bridge! Stay out of my head!"

Bridge shrugged. "Sorry."

_Yeah, I'll bet_, Jack thought, all of his instincts telling him to run while he still could. "Why are you here, Bridge?" he asked. There was no way he was here for the same reasons he and Sky had been.

"Cleaning up some mess," was the careless reply and Jack froze.

"You're part of the AAS," he whispered, not quite believing it. Or maybe believing it all too well.

Bridge laughed. "I _am_ the AAS, Jack. I set it up."

Jack shook his head reflexively in denial. "Bridge, why? Why would you do that?"

"Because Earth needs us, that's why. We're vulnerable right now, Jack, you know that. When SPD fell it left us open to all kinds of invasion. The mandate of the AAS is to make sure Earth isn't defenceless."

"All the anti-alien rhetoric, that was you? Bridge, you can't place all of Earth's problems on non-Terrans. It doesn't work that way."

"Not all of our problems, Jack, don't be so naïve. But our main problems revolve around aliens who think Earth is an easy target - that's always been part of our history and your own experiences should tell you that."

"Oh?" Jack crossed his arms across his chest. "Enlighten me."

"You were red ranger, Jack. You know how many crimes we stopped that were due to alien criminals, all the way from Gruumm and Broodwing downwards."

"That's because we were space police. New Tech PD handled human crime. And not all aliens are like that, Bridge. Kat? Cruger? You including them in all your anti-alien propaganda?"

"Don't be ridiculous, Jack. Of course not. I'm not targeting all aliens, just the evil ones."

"And who decides which are evil and which aren't? You?"

Bridge shrugged. "Who better?"

Jack couldn't take anymore. It was like it wasn't Bridge standing in front of him, but a Wootox-like impostor; someone who wore the face of his friend but in reality was a darkness that wanted only to destroy. He straightened from his relaxed lean against the wall. "Okay, I've heard enough. What's wrong with you, Bridge? Are you even listening to yourself? This isn't you, man."

"Well, perhaps you don't know me as well as you thought."

Jack scowled. He was tired of hearing that. He _did_ know his team, damn it. He just wished they'd stop _changing_ on him. Who would it be next? Syd? Z? He shuddered. God, he hoped not. Although, he thought uneasily, he hadn't seen either of the girls for a few days and that wasn't like them. Well, not like Z, anyway. He moved towards the door, not even bothering to pretend he wasn't, Bridge watching him in what looked like amusement. Indulgence maybe. He probably didn't see him as a threat. Well, that showed what he knew. "This isn't over, Bridge," he warned. "I can't just stand by and let you do this."

Bridge shrugged. "There's nothing you can do, Jack. You're only one."

_For now_, Jack amended silently as he turned and left the room. He was only one for now. He needed to find Sky. Maybe he'd have better luck talking sense into his former roommate.

"Sky won't believe you," came the confident statement, the words floating after him, quiet with the distance he'd put between himself and Bridge. Ignoring the walls, Jack made his way out as fast as he could, no longer caring if Bridge knew he'd spooked him, and set off in the direction of Sky's apartment. The argument they'd had didn't matter anymore, Sky needed to know this. If there was anyone capable of making Bridge see sense it would be him. Sky had to believe him. He had to.

* * *

"Are you crazy?" Sky demanded, after he'd poured out the story. "This is Bridge we're talking about here, he sees the best in everyone and you're trying to tell me he's part of an anti-alien group blowing places up?" Sky sounded incredulous and Jack supposed he couldn't really blame him. If anyone had been telling _him_ this he'd have thought they were nuts, but he'd hoped Sky would at least listen, not just dismiss him out of hand. "Are you even listening to yourself?"

Jack flinched as his words from earlier got thrown back in his face. "Look, I know how it sounds," he said, "and if I hadn't seen it for myself I'd say the same thing you are. But there's something wrong with him, Sky. He's not the Bridge we know and he was all but bragging about setting up the AAS. Hell, as far as he's concerned he _is_ the AAS. Does that sound like Bridge to you?"

Sky shook his head, but not in response to the question as Jack had hoped. "You know what I think?" he said, arms folded and his expression the unreadable mask Jack was so familiar with, eyes studying him intently. "I think you're feeling helpless and trying to conjure up a crisis you can deal with. Although why you'd pick on Bridge of all people I have no idea."

Jack growled faintly. There were times when he had to strongly resist the urge to strangle his former second in command. Now being an excellent case in point. "Sky, for once in your life, can you just listen to me? There is something wrong with Bridge and we need to figure out what so we can fix it. We take the AAS out of the equation, maybe everything will start calming down a little."

"See? This is my point," Sky said, finger flicking out to point in his direction and Jack wondered when exactly Sky had started picking up his mannerisms. "You're overcompensating, trying to save the world all by yourself. When did you get a martyr complex, Jack?"

"I do _not_ have a martyr complex," Jack snapped. "What I _have_ is a friend and sister I haven't seen for over a week when I should at least have heard _something_. I have another friend who's cutting himself off from the rest of us, oh and that's not mentioning all of my now _dead_ friends from the base and the places hit by the AAS. And on top of that, the last member of my team is freaking creepy and trying to wipe every single alien off the face of the planet. So yeah, I want to do something to try and get things back to normal before the entire world goes straight to hell, but I can't _do_ that on my own." He looked away from the unreadable expression even as it flickered slightly. "Sky, I need you. I can't do this on my own."

"Wait," Sky said quietly and Jack looked back hopefully.

"Yeah?"

"You haven't heard from the girls?" Not quite what Jack had been hoping for, it was at least a step in the right direction. Sky's expression was concerned, unease settling on the previously impassive features.

"No. And I should at least have heard from Z by now." _Please let this work_, he thought desperately as Sky wavered. _Please._

Sky sighed quietly, posture relaxing and some of the tension drained out of the room. _Yes,_ Jack thought in relief. He'd got through, now all they needed to do was--

"I still think you're wrong about Bridge."

--go over this again. "Sky--"

"I'm serious, Jack. I don't know where you got that idea from and I'm not even going to consider it. Bridge is the last person who would do something like setting up the AAS." Jack opened his mouth, only for Sky to carry on talking over any protests he might have made. "But I will keep an eye out for Syd and Z; you're right in that you should have heard something."

"Sky, Bridge isn't the same. You need to see for yourself."

"Jack, stop it. There is no way I'll believe that Bridge is involved in anything like ethnic cleansing. Deal with it."

"You know what? Fine. Just don't come crying to me when you find out how wrong you were." Jack turned on his heel and left, coming to an abrupt halt when he was safely out of view of Sky's apartment and slumping against the wall. He'd done far too much storming out of there for his liking over the past ten days and it needed to stop. He closed his eyes and scrunched the balls of his hands into his eyes before letting them fall, trying not to give in to the despair threatening to overwhelm him. Bridge had known he'd get this reaction, he'd had to. He'd sounded too sure to be bluffing and Bridge had a lousy poker face anyway. So either Bridge had gotten to Sky before he had, or he simply knew his former roommate that well. In the end he settled on Bridge just knowing Sky that well - they'd been roommates for four years or so, after that kind of time you were bound to pick up a few things. Well okay. If that was how it was going to be…

He straightened up decisively, resolve outweighing his previous sense of hopelessness. If this was the war they'd been preparing for then they needed to be ready, needed all the resources they could get and whether Sky would admit it or not he was as much a part of this as everyone else, but if he joined the AAS, if Bridge convinced him he was doing the right thing… _No_, he decided firmly. That wasn't going to happen. So far Sky was neutral, but if he saw for himself what had happened, what _was_ happening, he'd change his mind. He had to, there was no other choice. But for that to happen, Jack knew he'd have to change tactics. Appealing to Sky's loyalty wouldn't work, not with Bridge doing the same and having better luck, so he'd have to do this another way.

* * *

As Jack left yet again, Sky sighed in frustration as he turned away from the door, shaking his head in pure disbelief. What was _wrong_ with Jack? Bridge? Leader of the AAS? The idea was ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous. 


	5. Chapter 5

Author's note: Soooo...you guys are reading, and putting this on your alert lists, but not commenting?

There's one bad word in this one.

The Wearing of Masks

Chapter 5

They were in trouble.

Boom knew it. Sam knew it. And if they could get Nova to talk to them for more than half a minute, they'd have found she knew it too.

The day after SPD retreated Peter had appeared at the DMA Centre, accompanied by a Japanese man—Hiro, Boom realised later, but at the time he hadn't the chance to recognize him—and told them the Centre was being evacuated. Boom thought about protesting, but it didn't seem worth the trouble; Nova didn't care one way or the other as far as he could tell, and in the absence of higher authority—or at least Z—Sam was sticking with Nova. So when Peter laid a hand on her arm and then vanished, teleporting away, Sam followed before Boom could protest. And he was trapped then; he'd promised Cruger and Kat he'd keep an eye on the kids, even if this wasn't quite what they'd envisioned.

So he'd allowed Hiro to throw an arm around his shoulders, and then he was somewhere else. He had no idea where; Peter had sequestered them on arrival, ostensibly on Nathan's orders and for their protection. From the little news they'd had from the outside world, Boom supposed he should be grateful for the protection the DMA was offering them—especially as the DMA had no obligation to any of them but Sam, and no official obligation to him, either.

But it bothered him, being stuck away from the action. Boom and the kids were staying in a sort of dorm—rooms for each of them and communal living areas—and there were only two other residents: one was another Meta, a tall, dark-haired man called Isaac. They almost never spoke to him; he spent all his time either in his own room or painting at the back of the rec room. They rarely got to see the finished products; Peter or one of the others habitually collected them as soon as they were done.

The other was a boy barely younger than Sam. His mother worked for Nathan in some kind of capacity, Boom wasn't sure what, but both were Meta. Micah spent a lot of time on his computer, and most of their news from the outside world came from him; he had an uncanny way with electronics, software especially. Sam had befriended him immediately, and as Nova started to interact with people the pair included her automatically. They were now almost inseparable, to the point that others had started to refer to them as a single entity, Wunderkind. Isaac had started it, Boom thought, or maybe Peter, and almost everyone had picked it up at this point.

There were always other people around, usually DL or Hiro and Ando. Boom knew them from the rescue mission two years earlier. They saw Matt, briefly, on the first day; Peter came by once or twice and then vanished. The person they saw most often was Claire, a blonde girl barely older than Nova, who was something to Peter; relation, lieutenant or lover, Boom didn't know. She seemed to have been put in charge of them; she brought food and anything else they asked for, passed on their messages to Peter—or told them she was, anyway—and kept them informed about what was happening out in the real world.

By the second night they'd given up on the separate rooms and they slept together in Nova's. All the rooms had two beds anyway; Claire got them a camp bed without comment and Boom slept on it, between the two beds, for the first night. After that he swapped with Sam; the Green Ranger invariably ended up wrapped around Nova anyway, one or the other recovering from nightmares.

If Boom dreamed, he didn't remember it afterwards.

On the fourth or fifth day after their arrival they were left alone for the first time. Claire had left their breakfast before any of them had woken, and, unusually, she didn't come back at lunchtime. Everyone else had vanished except for Isaac; he'd given up on the canvas he normally used and was painting directly onto the wall, ignoring Sam and Nova as they watched. Micah was sitting near the window, laptop turned off for once and slung across his back.

"How does he paint so well when he can't see?" Nova murmured, stepping back as he tried to reach around her. As always when he painted, Isaac's eyes were covered with a white film; Boom had only seen him without it once, as he usually stayed in his room when he wasn't painting.

Sam shrugged. "Good memory? Nova, does that look like an SPD uniform?"

Nova joined him, staring at the figure in front of him. The scene seemed to be a battle in a burnt-out city, and was unlike most of Isaac's paintings in that it showed a huge throng of people from very far away; his paintings tended to show only one or two, from quite close up. The tiny figure Sam was studying _could_ have been wearing SPD's uniform.

"Maybe," she said finally. "But SPD can't get anyone else down, remember? It can't be one of us. There's only you and me."

"Maybe it's one of us," Sam suggested, leaning closer to the picture. Isaac turned, glaring sightlessly at him, and he backed off hastily. "It kind of looks like a green uniform. But his hair's not red."

"Maybe it's Bridge," Boom said absently.

"Bridge was the Blue Ranger," Nova protested.

"Blue when he left, yeah, but Green for much longer."

Isaac tottered suddenly, white draining from his eyes. Nova steadied him quickly, frowning. "Isaac? You ok?"

The door to the room burst open and Peter charged in, yelling over his shoulder at Claire and almost falling over Micah. "Sorry," he said perfunctorily, scanning the painting before turning on Isaac. "What are you painting?"

"You tell me." Isaac was leaning on Nova and didn't meet Peter's eyes.

"Peter, calm down," Claire said, but Peter didn't acknowledge her, staring at the painting again.

It was obviously a scene from the Meta War; one fighter was attacking her opponents with fire, the ground was erupting in places, and some people were being hurled randomly through the air. Dust and gloom obscured parts of the view and the city they fought in could have been abandoned for twenty years; the streets were cracked and pitted and the buildings were falling down. Oddly, though, plants and vines grew all over the area, green and vibrant despite the fighting all around.

"This doesn't tell us anything," Peter said in frustration.

"So what's new?" Isaac said, grinning manically. Boom carefully took him from Nova, dropping him on the nearest couch and ushering the kids away. "You saved the cheerleader on less than this."

"I saved the cheerleader with a place name, date and time," Peter snapped. "Isaac, you know what's happening, I need more."

"It doesn't come on demand." Isaac flopped sidewise, burying his face in the cushions.

"Isaac…" Claire bent over him, checking his pulse hurriedly. "I told you it was too much," she added to Peter, who waved her off.

"What's going on?" Sam asked.

"What's going…you don't know," Peter corrected himself. "What's going on is it looks like the War's started."

"What, right now?" Boom said in surprise, glancing out the window. There was a fair-sized city in the distance—he'd never been able to figure out what city it was—and everything looked normal from here.

"There's this group, call themselves the AAS," Claire explained, shifting to sit next to Isaac. The painter seemed to be unconscious now. "They say that since SPD's gone, Earth's open to attack and they wanna stop it, or help protect it or something. They want Nathan to publicise the List so they can recruit Metas to protect the planet, until SPD gets back."

"Nathan can't publicise the List, it's against the law," Boom protested, adding thoughtfully, "which I guess he knows, since he wrote the laws."

"He's not going to," Peter agreed. "He made an announcement last night to say he wouldn't."

"And then what?" Nova asked, looking from Peter to Claire and back again. "Something happened, you wouldn't be this upset…"

"Four DMA centres around the country were attacked and burned during last night and this morning," Peter said reluctantly. "The AAS have claimed responsibility. They're gonna keep attacking until they're given the List."

"DMA centres?" Boom repeated.

"New Tech, Odessa Texas, and two satellite centres in New York and Las Vegas." Peter was still looking towards the painting, but his gaze was focused somewhere far away. "The New York centre was holding a class, six children died. Odessa, four people. Las Vegas three people injured."

"And New Tech was empty," Claire added, "because you're here." Boom nodded quietly, nudging Nova towards the nearest seat. She went without complaint, sinking into the seat. Sam sat on the arm, leaning against her; both were pale.

"What's happening?" Boom asked, watching Peter.

"Nathan's pushing emergency legislation to provide DMA centres with security," Claire told him when Peter didn't answer. "He wants it passed right away. SPD's calling for everyone to calm down and stop fighting, but the AAS is ignoring them. There was another shuttle destroyed this morning."

"What about the others? Jack, Bridge?"

"We haven't heard from them, but our people in New Tech are looking for them," she assured him. Raising her voice, she added, "Peter, we need to get Isaac back to his room. He can't sleep here."

"Yeah," Peter said vaguely. "Claire, does that look like Nathan?"

Sighing, Claire went to stand beside him. Curious, Boom followed; the figure Peter was studying was hovering above the battle, and though his face was too small to see clearly Boom had the impression that he was upset by what was happening, not taking part.

"Can't tell," Claire said finally. "Could be either of you."

"Or someone you haven't met yet," Boom added. "He doesn't look tall enough to be either of you."

Peter shook his head. "You can't tell how tall he is…Nathan can't take part in this. I won't let him." He sounded angry at the thought, and for the first time Boom was genuinely afraid of him.

"Isaac," Claire reminded him sharply, and Peter turned away, hauling the artist to his feet and helping him out of the room.

"What's really happening?" Boom asked as soon as Peter was out of earshot. Claire shook her head, looping her hair back behind her ear.

"I haven't talked to Nathan. But Peter hasn't been this upset in a long time. It's a good thing you guys're here; if you'd been in New Tech…" she shrugged, not finishing the sentence.

"What?" Nova asked, rising from the chair. Sam hovered by her elbow, looking upset. "What, we'd be dead? This AAS would have attacked us? What?"

"Nova," Sam said softly.

"We might have stopped it, Sam, we have Zords."

Boom hissed softly; he'd been keeping that information in reserve.

"Or we might not," Sam said quietly. "We might have fallen, too."

"You have Zords?" Peter said, coming back into the room.

"They're not our Zords," Sam said absently. "They're just for us to use."

"What's the difference?" Claire asked.

"A Zord that's not yours doesn't work as well as one that is. Your Zord gets to know you, knows how you react." Nova shook her head at the look on Claire's face. "I can't explain it any better than that."

"But you can use them?" Peter asked.

"For SPD purposes, yes," Boom said warningly. Peter waved that off, studying the painting again.

"Ok," he said after a moment. "I need you guys to stay here for now, ok? The AAS don't know you're here and we want to keep it that way."

"There are people we need to get in touch with," Boom protested.

Peter nodded sympathetically. "I know. But we can't risk anyone finding you. The AAS _might_ step down if they knew SPD still had a presence here. Or they might take you out of the equation instead. For now you need to stay put. Claire'll take your messages for you."

Claire nodded at once, glancing at her watch. "Oh, but it's late! Let me find out where your food is, and I'll take your messages after, ok?" She hurried out.

Peter turned away from the painting, glancing briefly at the three kids before turning to leave.

"Peter!" Boom caught him at the door, out of earshot of the others. "If you're thinking the Rangers can help you, they can't."

"Can't," Peter repeated.

"SPD defends Earth against alien threats. We don't take sides in internal conflicts."

"Internal…this is not a _conflict, _Boom, this is a war. The Meta War."

"I know," Boom agreed.

"And Sam's Meta."

"Sam's SPD. That supersedes anything else…you won't get them to help you, Peter."

"That a threat, Boom?" Peter folded his arms, watching.

Boom didn't retreat, even though Peter towered over him. "No. Just didn't want any misunderstandings."

Peter grinned suddenly, unfolded his arms and clapping Boom on the shoulder. "No misunderstandings. It's fine."

Claire reappeared, ducking between them with a tray, and Boom followed her back into the room, just as happy to leave Peter behind.

* * *

Late that night Isaac pounded on the door of Nova's room, jolting them awake. Sam tumbled off the bed, bouncing back to his feet, and Boom jerked upright.

"What is it?" Nova called, turning on the light. Isaac shoved the door open, leaning in without passing the threshold.

"The city's burning," he told them. Boom scrambled to his feet, stumbling over the end of the camp bed as he followed Isaac back to the rec room.

The city _was_ burning, swathes of fire glowing brightly. Boom thought he could hear sirens, screams and yells, but he had to be imagining that. Micah was watching from a window in the corner, flinching at the distant explosions.

"Isaac, where are we?" Boom asked.

"Boston."

"Boston," Boom murmured, staring at the glow on the horizon.

Sam and Nova came in, both wearing their SPD uniforms, and he gestured them to the nearest window. Sam grimaced at the sight, turning his back to it, but Nova stared, entranced. Micah abandoned his own window and came to join them.

"Claire," Sam said suddenly, and Boom turned to see her standing in the doorway. She'd obviously just woken up, hair still messy and wearing an oversized t-shirt and a pair of boxers, and Hiro was hovering behind her.

"Are you guys ok?" she asked, gaze flickering from one to another of them.

"We're fine," Isaac said quickly. "What's going on, Claire?"

"It's…"

Boom missed the rest of her explanation; Sam's hands were on his arms, dragging him down to the floor. Dimly, he saw Isaac crash to the floor under Nova, and Hiro scrambling for cover in the hall. He twisted, looking for Claire and Micah, and the windows above his head exploded.

No one moved for several moments; Boom's hands and head were covered in glass, though he didn't think he was injured. Sam, lying across his legs and back, wasn't moving, and Boom was starting to worry when Claire said very clearly, "Aw, _fuck._"

Sam shifted at that, rolling off Boom onto the window side where there was less glass. Nova and Isaac were moving tentatively, too.

"No one move," Sam said, and Boom stayed where he was. "Claire, do you want me to do that?"

"Yeah," she agreed.

"You can move now," Sam said a second later, and Boom got to his feet in time to see a neat pile of glass shimmer into one of the corners. Some of it was bloodstained; Boom glanced at Claire as the cut on her face healed over.

"What was that?" Nova asked. Isaac picked a shard of glass out of her hair, tossing it into the pile.

"Explosion," Hiro said, joining them in the room.

"In the city?" Boom said in surprise. "How close are we?"

"Not that close. Someone's targeting us." Claire accepted the jacket Hiro offered her, fastening it to cover the holes in her t-shirt. "We need to get you guys out of here…are you ready now?"

Boom glanced at Nova, who nodded. "Almost," he said, heading back to his room. Behind him he could hear Hiro telling Sam exactly where they were going.

Isaac was missing when he came back into the room; the Rangers were waiting patiently and as soon as he reappeared they moved to flank him, Nova holding Micah by the shoulder. Claire was standing at the window, staring blindly towards the city, and Hiro was sitting crosslegged on the floor, murmuring to himself in Japanese.

"Where are we going this time?" Boom asked.

He'd aimed the question at Sam but it was Claire who answered, turning away from the window. "Washington. Nothing's happening there."

"What's happening here?"

"The AAS and D'MAPA are fighting."

"D'MAPA," Nova repeated. Neither she nor Sam had moved, flanking Boom protectively.

"The DMA's security."

"Since when have the DMA had security forces?" Boom said in surprise. "You said Nathan was trying to get the law passed."

"He did. Yesterday. All the DMA centres had security from yesterday evening."

"So fast? Who's running it?"

"Matt. He called in a lot of favours."

"And when did the fighting start?" Nova asked pointedly.

If Claire knew what she was getting at, she didn't show it. "Late last night. Early this morning."

The building shook, and Hiro scrambled to his feet. "We go now?" he pleaded.

"Yeah. Isaac! Are you ready?" The room shook, and Claire added, "Sam, go."

"Sam, don't," Boom said quickly. Nova shifted uncertainly and he added, "We leave no man behind, no matter what. You know that."

There were yells from below, muffled banging and someone screaming, and Claire hissed, biting her lip. "You're in more danger than we are, the AAS wants you out of the picture. Please go!"

"No," Boom said steadily. Sam and Nova didn't react, continuing to flank him. Micah glanced uncertainly from them to Claire, but he didn't budge either.

Claire grimaced, turning away. "Isaac!"

The building shook again, the door blew off its' hinges, and Boom found himself staring at Z and Syd.


	6. Chapter 6

The Wearing Of Masks

Chapter 6

As the building shook and the door flew inside ahead of her, Syd looked around in disdain. The DMA was supposed to be this big deal but if they couldn't handle this… they really hadn't amounted to much. She stepped into the room, Z beside her and the first person she saw was Boom. Inwardly she frowned but outwardly she smiled, mentally noting how the tech's immediate relief at seeing them faded into confusion. Not giving him time to speculate on why they were there or how they'd known to be there, she grabbed his elbow and hauled him to his feet.

Not far away was a blonde girl, no older than Wunderkind really, currently out cold, and an older man with dark hair slumped against a wall. "Where are the kids?" she asked and followed his glance when he automatically looked for them.

"Sam!" Z exclaimed and hurried over to where the young redhead was pulling himself to his feet, Nova crouched next to him. Micah Sanders was curled up in a ball not far away, slowly realising that help had arrived.

"Z!" he replied with relief, too happy to see her than query why they were there.

"Ready to get out of here?" the former yellow ranger asked and he nodded.

"More than ready," he replied, taking the offered hand. Syd nodded to herself as they got ready to leave. They'd got what they came for, now it was time to go.

"What about the others?" Boom asked as they started to head for the door and they turned back. The girl was DMA probably, that made her meta and they should probably take her with them. Boom was - had been - SPD, so even if he wasn't meta again they should probably take him. Besides, Bridge might be happy to see his friend and know that he was alright.

Another explosion rocked the building and part of the ceiling collapsed, catching Boom on the shoulder and sending him to the floor. Syd winced as his head came into contact with what remained of a table on his way down. That was going bruise horribly.

"We can't carry him," Z said, not really sounding bothered to Syd's ears. "We should go while we still can."

"But what about Boom?" Sam protested. "And Claire and Isaac?"

"Boom can take care of himself," Z said reassuringly. "He's proved that in the past. Come on Sam, we need to go."

"But--"

There was a quiet rumble and they looked up at the ceiling. "No time Sam. We gotta go."

Barely making it out of the building in time, they turned back to see the building collapse.

"Boom!" Sam cried and Z firmly took hold of his arm, ignoring the stunned expression on Nova's face.

"The rescue services will be here soon. They'll get him out."

"We can't just--"

"Yes we can. We had a mission and until we get you three kids out of here we haven't done it yet. Now come on."

* * *

Boom woke slowly, his head throbbing and the rest of him not feeling much better. Looking around desperately for his charges he found that he was alone, the building empty. Wunderkind was gone and there was no sign of Claire, Isaac, Syd or Z. Stumbling to his feet he pressed a hand to his forehead and winced when his fingers came away bloody. Not good. He just hoped he didn't have a concussion because that really wouldn't help right now.

What had Syd and Z been doing there? he wondered. And why had they left him behind? The girls he knew would never leave anyone behind, not willingly. Dread began to form a cold knot in his stomach as he began to put two and two together and coming up with five. They'd been a lot colder than he remembered either of them being, like they didn't care about anyone there, except maybe Sam. Was he the reason they'd been there? To rescue Sam? Possibly. Even if something had messed with Z's head she'd still care about Sam and what happened to him, and by extension what happened to Nova and probably Micah too, for all that the younger boy wasn't SPD. Hadn't been SPD. Before the base was attacked and SPD Earth effectively wiped out. Their timing was a little too coincidental as well, turning up right when the DMA centre was under attack? Too neat.

Making his way carefully out of what was left of the building, he walked into smoke and ash-filled air, coughing hard as it hit him right in the face. Blindly he headed away from what remained of the DMA centre, to somewhere with cleaner air so he could think more clearly. City Park. Close enough that he could make it there, far enough away that the smoke shouldn't have reached it yet.

Collapsing onto a park bench, Boom's head dropped into his hands. How had everything gone to hell so quickly? If Syd and Z had had something to do with the attack on the centre, no matter how much he didn't want to believe that, did that mean they were AAS? It just didn't seem possible. But it was, he knew. Over the years and exposure to the former B Squad, he'd developed a healthy gut instinct and the confidence to go with it. Something had happened to the girls and gotten them involved in something they would usually fight against, he knew it deep down. He also knew that he didn't have what it took to get them back. He knew someone that did though, and he prayed that the AAS hadn't got there first.

He hesitated before knocking on the door of the shelter before squaring his shoulders. Better to know now if Jack had been affected by whatever had gotten its claws into Syd and Z, than find out later by coming face to face with three members of the ranger team that had defeated a galactic army. The door was opened cautiously by a blonde woman that he took to be Ally Samuels, even though he'd never actually met her. "Is Jack here?" he asked before she could say anything and waited while she studied him carefully, no doubt taking in the bump on his head and smoke-stained clothes. _Oh god_, he thought, _please don't let her turn me away_. It had been hard enough getting here; he'd been forced to hitch most of the way, lack of funds or ID hampering him, and he was afraid of what might have already happened to the kids.

"Come on in," she said eventually. "Jack!" she called over her shoulder. "Someone to see you."

He waited tensely as Jack extricated himself from a small group of people and made his way over, although the very fact that he was here was an encouraging sign.

"God, Boom, what happened to you?" was the startled question, Jack's eyes roaming over him as he took in the sorry sight Boom knew he was presenting.

"The DMA centre was attacked. In Boston," he said and Jack's eyes widened.

"That's what the explosions were? It was on the news...just about."

Boom nodded. "Yeah. And they're why I need to talk to you."

Jack's expression tightened and he nodded back. "In the office," he said shortly. "I'll be right there."

Boom had barely gotten settled in the cramped room that passed as the shelter's office when Jack walked in and sat down on the edge of the table. "Alright," the former red ranger said, "what happened?"

Taking a deep breath, Boom filled him in on everything from the time he and Wunderkind had arrived at the centre to the explosions and the convenient arrival of Syd and Z. He really wished he didn't have to tell the other man this, that he suspected his sister was involved with something like the AAS and it was almost painful to see the hope that had flared at the mention of Syd and Z die as he outlined his suspicions.

"I wondered why I hadn't heard anything," Jack said softly. "Guess now I know why."

"You believe me?" Boom gaped. He'd hoped, but he hadn't been sure.

"Yeah," was the reluctant response. "I do. Because it's not just the girls."

It was Boom's turn to listen as Jack described his run in with Bridge and his heart sank. "They were supposed to be taking Bridge home," he said softly and Jack nodded.

"He got to them. I don't know how he did it, I don't even know how he got so messed up himself, but I can't believe he'd go so far as brainwashing."

"What about Sky?" Boom asked cautiously. "We should talk to him before Bridge gets him too."

Jack's expression went blank. "Don't bother," he said tightly. "I already tried."

"But if he knows something's wrong with Bridge…"

"I told him something was wrong with Bridge. He didn't believe me."

"Damn," Boom said softly.

"Yeah. Tell me about it."

* * *

Bridge was waiting when they finally made it to Angel Grove. Sam had offered to teleport them, but the distance was too great for him to bring anyone with him—3000 miles was just too much for him. So they drove, the kids piled together in the back seat, the girls in the front, and cars on either side to escort them.

They drove through deserted towns or—worse—towns where fighting was still going on. The escort got them through without much difficulty, but Syd and Z had to stop several times to retrieve one or another of the kids. Nova, especially, had a very hard time seeing people in trouble without helping them and developed a distressing habit of throwing herself out when the car slowed, getting caught up in the nearest fight before anyone could retrieve her.

Z and Syd switched tactics after the third or fourth time that happened; one of them drove, the other sat in the back. When Z was driving she kept Sam up front with her; Syd usually had Nova. Both tried to have Micah, but for some reason he unnerved them. Neither tried to talk to him any more than they had to, and he spent most of the trip crammed into a corner of the back seat.

They drove all that day, through the night and all the next day. That evening, forty-some hours into the drive, Nova asked if they were stopping for the night.

"We don't have time," Syd told her. "We need to get back to New Tech, we're way behind. The DMA are going to find us at this rate."

"Nova's sick," Micah protested. Sam, in the front seat, twisted to look at them. Nova did look pretty sick, pale and shaky.

"We can't stop." Z pushed Sam's knee out of her way. "The DMA are…"

"The DMA never hurt any of us!" Micah insisted. "Nova's _sick."_

The car skidded around a corner; unable to catch herself, Nova fell heavily against Syd, who shoved her violently back upright. "Get _off_ me!"

Sam, reacting instinctively to threat-to-leader, shoved one hand past the headrest on his seat to graze Nova's tshirt. The other hand went between the seats to catch Micah's arm, and all three vanished.

Syd and Z tracked them down within ten minutes; they were in a small motel. Micah had 'convinced' the computer that they had reservations, and Nova was already almost asleep.

"She has food poisoning," Sam said as soon as Z broke into the room. "She can't travel, Z, it's making her worse."

"We can't stay here," Z said angrily. Behind her, Syd lurked in the doorway, watching them. "The DMA…"

"Had us in Boston for a week," Sam interrupted. "They didn't do anything to us then."

"Because they thought you were on their side. Now that you're with us…"

"We're not on a side," Micah said quietly. "My mom works for the DMA."

"You're with the AAS now," Syd said flatly. "At least as far as they know."

"Sam." Z hunkered in front of him. "This really isn't safe. I know you're worried about Nova, we are too, but she's in more danger staying here than she is travelling with us. Trust me?"

Sam grimaced, glancing down at Nova. "I can teleport us," he said uncertainly.

"It's still too far. Maybe eight hours more; we're really far behind. Come on, Sam. We've got painkillers in the car, we'll take it really easy, ok?"

"Z," Syd said impatiently. Z shoved to her feet, nudging Syd outside the door.

Sam glanced at Micah, raising an eyebrow questioningly, and the younger boy shrugged. "Don't like it," he murmured, just barely audible.

"It's not right," Sam agreed, just as quiet. "But we can't stop them."

Micah eased off the bed, crossing to the door to listen. He blinked in surprise and turned back. "They're saying that…"

The door opened, almost hitting him as he scrambled away. "Ready?" Z asked.

* * *

It was late the next afternoon when they finally reached Angel Grove. Micah had tried once or twice to get Sam on his own but the girls were watching them now, casually preventing them from getting any time alone. The most they'd snatched was thirty seconds during a rest stop; Micah hastily told Sam that the girls weren't worried about Nova as long as the boys were ok, but Z interrupted before he could clarify and it was the last time they got together.

Bridge was sprawled across the steps outside a three story building, talking to another man, when the car pulled up. The escort had peeled off, and it was only the five who greeted him.

"You're late," he said idly, climbing to his feet. "What happened?"

"Nova has food poisoning," Sam told him, steadying her as she slid out of the car. The travel had really taken a toll on her and she was barely conscious of her surroundings, clinging to Sam and Micah as her lifelines.

"What happened to make you late," Bridge clarified.

Sam was staring at the buildings around him in surprise. "Angel Grove Tech? Bridge, why…"

"I taught here. I still have access. And it's the only place in town with enough housing space."

"Where are the students?"

"Gone home, most of them. Only the AAS are here now." He looked over Sam's head at Syd. "Why are you late?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. We stopped to take in the scenery. Oh yeah, and there's this little _war_ going on. You might have noticed it? Riots, fighting in the streets?"

Bridge glared at her, turning to glance at the two men who seemed to be acting as his bodyguards. "Get…" He frowned, looking back at Wunderkind.

"Nova," Z said quietly.

"Get Nova to a room and have someone look at her." Sam and Micah automatically followed her, and he added "Not you two. You stay here for now."

Sam bit his lip, looking after Nova, and Z added quickly, "We should show you around. Let the medic take a look at Nova, and you can go back to her later. Ok?"

"Micah," Bridge said abruptly, as though only now realising the young boy was there. "Sorry about that. We're still a bit confused around here. You want to come with me?"

"No." Micah took a step back to avoid Bridge's outstretched hand.

"No," Sam agreed.

"Sam." Bridge wrapped a paternal arm around his shoulders. "We're not trying to split you guys up. Of course you can come if you want. But I'm only going to show Micah the scanners and things we have set up. I figured you'd be bored."

"That does sound kind of boring," Sam said uncertainly, looking at Micah. The younger boy was shaking his head, and Sam added quickly, "But I'm staying with Micah. He and Nova are my team now."

"Wunderkind," Bridge muttered. His arm fell away from Sam's shoulders. "Z, get them rooms. Get rid of these clothes; D'MAPA's probably tracking them."

"What about the scanners?" Micah asked hesitantly.

"Tomorrow. When you've rested."

"And Nova?" Sam was nowhere near as hesitant, probably because he wasn't _afraid _of Bridge.

"When she's rested."

"Sam," Z said quietly. He and Micah followed her towards the nearest building.

Sam paused in the door, looking back at Bridge who was now deep in conversation with Syd. "Bridge. I thought you'd want to know. Boom was with us in Boston."

"Boom," Bridge repeated thoughtfully. "Where is he?"

"He was injured. Syd and Z left him behind." Sam started after Z again, paused, and added quietly, "He died when the building collapsed."


	7. Chapter 7

The Wearing of Masks

Chapter 7

Three days later Nova was really starting to worry.

The first day she'd woken up here, Sam and Micah had been with her almost all day. The day after that, they'd left for most of the afternoon and come back briefly in the evening. Today it was coming up to evening and she hadn't seen them at all.

The doctor had discharged her the day before, but, unsure of what she was supposed to do, she'd stayed in the room she'd been given. Now, bored and worried about her team, she was venturing out.

She passed several people in the corridors, though no one she recognised. Considering she knew all of four people here she wasn't surprised; but she didn't even know where she was. She didn't want to just stop people and ask; the way her luck was going lately, she'd probably wandered into the restricted sections or something.

Eventually she found her way out of the building. Outside the sun was just starting to set, where it could be seen through the now-constant cloud of smoke and ash. Nova shielded her eyes, searching for anyone she knew. _There._

"Sam!"

Sam and Micah, hurrying across the open space between two buildings, altered course to come greet her. "You shouldn't be wandering around," Sam told her.

"Where are we?"

"Angel Grove…you really should go back to your room."

"What's going on?" Nova frowned when Sam avoided her gaze. Micah was busy with a PDA and hadn't acknowledged her yet, although that wasn't unusual when he got caught up in something.

"Just there's a lot of people who don't know who you are. This is not a good place to be wandering around."

"I'm still SPD," Nova reminded him. "If Bridge and the others are running this place…"

"No one knows that," Sam said again. "It's just…" He glanced at Micah for help. Micah didn't look up, either ignoring or genuinely not seeing him. "I guess you can come with us. Micah needs to talk to Bridge."

"No," Nova said slowly. "I'll just…go back to my room."

"Yeah," Sam agreed distractedly. "We'll see you later, ok?"

"Yeah," she murmured as they headed off. "Later."

Waiting for them to disappear from view, she headed away from the building.

* * *

It took almost two hours to find a working phone, and Nova was deathly afraid that New Tech might be in worse shape. She knew the DMA centre and the Observatory had both been hit early, and she was just hoping that the town might have calmed down.

"What?" someone demanded into the phone, and she sagged against the wall of the booth in relief.

"Is Jack there? Please, I need to…is he there?"

"Jack!"

There was a long pause before the phone was passed off and Jack said, semi-warily, "Yeah?"

"Jack." Nova pressed one hand against her cheek, realising distantly that she was crying. "Oh god, Jack, something's _wrong _with them."

"Nova." Distantly, she heard him yell "Someone get Boom!" and then he was back with her. "Nova, tell me where you are."

"Angel Grove. I'm…I found a phone."

"Good. Where?"

"Some kind of old restaurant, or gym or something. The sign's gone."

"Ok. Tell me what's happening…Nova, Boom's here. Do you want to talk to him?"

"Boom's alive?" Nova said in surprise.

"That's what he's saying about you."

"Yes please."

As soon as she heard Boom's voice she all but fell apart, and it took him several minutes to coax her back into coherency.

"We're in Angel Grove Tech," she told them finally. "Bridge is…he taught there."

"Yeah, he did," Jack agreed. "That's where he's holed up, huh?"

"Makes sense," Boom murmured. "Housing for everyone, loads of space, and the Tech College has some of the best sensors short of SPD. Bridge can watch anything anywhere with those."

"Nova, go on," Jack urged her.

"The others are…Sam, and Micah…they're _wrong."_

"The girls were wrong as well," Boom told her. "Syd and Z, when they came to Boston."

"We left you behind," she murmured. "I'm sorry."

"No. It's good," Jack said suddenly.

"Sorry?" Boom said sharply.

"It's good because now they think you're dead. And we have a man on the inside."

Nova stared at the phone. "You want me to spy on Bridge?"

"Can you do it?"

"Maybe," she said doubtfully. "As far as I can tell everyone in power is Meta. But I can try."

"Good," Jack said approvingly.

"Ranger Nova," Boom said formally, "As senior representative of SPD on Earth I am issuing you with new orders. You will return to the headquarters of the AAS and proceed to learn as much as you can about their methods and plans. The moment you feel you are in danger you will extricate yourself and report back to us."

"How will I find you?" Nova asked.

"We'll have someone in town," Boom promised.

"Nova? You need to be very careful. Bridge isn't wearing his gloves anymore."

"He's not?" Boom said in surprise. "Why not?"

"No idea. But it means he can read you if he's in the same room."

"There's ways of blocking him, right?" Nova said.

Jack's next words were muffled, as though he'd lowered the phone. "Boom, this is nuts, she's too young…"

"We can't get anyone else in, Jack, not that we can trust. We already know Bridge isn't bothered much about her." Boom's voice became clearer again. "Nova? Stick with Sam or Micah whenever you can. How'd you get off the base?"

"Dumb luck." Nova laughed, semi-hysterical. "The guard tripped."

"Ok. Be really careful getting back on. If they catch you, tell them you're lost. Anything. And if Bridge gets near you…the easiest thing is to sing something inside your head. Think about the song. It'll confuse him…or it would have before. I don't know about now."

"Boom," Nova said quietly, "what happened to Claire and Isaac?"

"They weren't there when I woke up. I don't know. I'm sorry."

"Ok. I'll try and call again in a couple of days, ok?"

"Someone'll get to you, Nova. Just…be careful, ok? Don't take risks. We need you now."

"Congratulations," Jack added dryly. "You've just become the most important person in our effort."

"Your effort," Nova repeated.

"Our effort to end the war. Nova, it's getting dark. You should go."

"Yeah," she agreed softly. "I'll talk to you soon."

* * *

Getting back on base was easier than she'd expected; a blonde woman was causing a disturbance at the gates and most of the guards were there. She was able to sneak past the fence easily, and she'd been back in her room for twenty minutes when Sam came looking.

"We're going to eat. D'you want to come?"

The invitation was perfunctory, and any other time Nova probably would have turned it down. This time, she pasted a smile on her face and nodded.

"Sounds great, thanks." As they left she added, as casually as she could, "Will Bridge be there?"


	8. Chapter 8

The Wearing of Masks

Chapter 8

Life in Washington, Nathan reflected, was oddly surreal. Not because there was fighting; because there wasn't any.

In the first couple of days after SPD's destruction there'd been skirmishes in town, but very little actual damage had been done. The DMA centre hadn't been touched, and the AAS had inexplicably decided not to bother with the DMA headquarters or any of their holdings around the city. Congress hadn't been targeted, and after a couple of days staying on Air Force One the president had come back to the White House. There simply wasn't any fighting, and life went on almost as usual. Barring the hysterical crackdowns and lynchings of Meta all over the city. Officially those acts were condemned; in practise the police did very little about it.

Nathan allowed himself to think briefly, wistfully, of his mother, of Heidi and the boys. They'd been holidaying on the continent when the War broke out, and he'd made them stay there; he'd had trouble getting in touch with them, but at least they were safe and far away. So far the AAS seemed confined to America; with any luck this War would burn itself out here and leave the rest of the world untouched.

He turned from the window as Mohinder came in. "Get what you need?"

Mohinder held up a Flash drive. "The only complete version of the List. All other versions now contain only Meta already publicly known, or those we know are dead. You, Peter, and the current and former Rangers do not appear on any List."

"Thank you," Nathan said with a sigh, taking the drive from him.

"Do you really think they will have you leave?" Mohinder asked. "You are the DMA's head, they surely must…"

"I think the only reason I haven't already been asked to leave is that D'MAPA is obviously out of my control. Matt, of all people!"

Mohinder, wisely, didn't answer that, opting to change the subject instead. "Have you heard from Peter?"

"Not since Boston. He and Claire got out, they were seen leaving. I heard Isaac got out, as well, but if he did he's vanished; I can't get confirmation either way. I can't get confirmation on Boom, either."

"What have you told SPD?"

"I can't get hold of SPD to tell them _anything._ All the Rangers have vanished. I can't even get hold of Tate, and he hasn't left his apartment in months."

"What about Landors? He runs a shelter, yes?"

"He's never there," Nathan muttered. "Or so they're saying."

"He hasn't been seen?"

"Who can I send to look for him?" Nathan was suddenly angry. Mohinder didn't react, letting him rant. "Everyone I thought I trusted, everyone who worked for me, they've all gone with Matt. What have we, you and two secretaries left? And Peter and Claire are missing somewhere, and…" He broke off abruptly, turning away.

Mohinder sighed, turning away. "I must go. As you say, there are so few of us now. More work for all."

"Yeah," Nathan muttered, leaning against the window.

Mohinder let himself out, closing the door firmly behind him. Nathan waited patiently for several minutes before turning around.

"Marco."

"Polo." Peter shimmered into view in a corner of the office.

"Where've you been, Pete?"

"Here and there. Running, mostly." He dropped into the nearest chair. Absently Nathan noted that he did look tired, but not enough if he really had been running since Boston had been attacked.

"Where's Claire?"

"Around."

Nathan nodded slowly, easing around his desk to put it between them. "So where've you been? You vanished after Boston."

"The AAS was following us. Figured it'd be better to lay low for a while."

"The AAS was after the kids. Not you guys. Why would they want…" Nathan faltered to a halt.

"Why would they want me?" Peter raised an eyebrow, studying him. "Come on, Nathan. You know why."

"No." Nathan felt for his chair, easing into it without taking his eyes off his brother. "Pete…"

"What, you really never saw it coming?" Peter leaned forward, studying him. "You really didn't, did you. Did you think I was going to stand in your shadow forever? That I was going to let you _hide_ me forever? Smile at the cameras and then back in my box?"

"I wasn't hiding you, I was protecting you! You had a nervous breakdown every time you saw another Meta!"

Peter smiled, leaning back. "Yeah. That was some good acting, huh?"

Nathan sank back into his seat, unable to hold himself up anymore. "Acting? Pete…"

"Well, the last couple years, anyway." He grinned suddenly, viciously, and Nathan recoiled. "You never did know me as well as I knew you, Nathan. Could get anything past you."

"I believed you," Nathan said softly. "I believed _in _you."

Peter flinched at that. "Things change. You know that."

Nathan sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. "D'MAPA?"

Peter smiled faintly. "D'MAPA. You'd know you came up with the name, anyway. You never did have much imagination."

"Matt's running…"

"Matt answers to me," Peter interrupted. "They all do."

"They all?" Nathan repeated weakly.

"Claire. Isaac. All of them."

"Isaac's in rehab in Texas."

Peter winced theatrically. "Yeah, rehab fell through. He's not doing so good."

Nathan sat forward. "That was a locked centre. I got him in myself."

"Yeah," Peter agreed easily. "Seems it was damaged in the attack on the DMA centre."

"The DMA centre? Peter…"

Peter rolled his eyes. "I didn't attack our own centre, Nathan. Just took advantage of some chaos."

"You broke him out. I thought…he was seen in Boston, and I didn't know…"

"My paintings were never as good as his. I lack the technique, or whatever. Had to go straight to the source."

"Pete, I don't…why are you here?"

"Just wanted to make sure you weren't going to do anything stupid, big brother. Like try and have me deposed."

"Deposed? You're not a monarch."

Peter grinned faintly. "Long live King Peter. Once a King in Narnia…"

"_Peter_."

Peter leaned forward, smile sliding off his face. "Sit in here and play at being a leader, Nathan. You won't be hurt; I'll see to that."

"Are you…" Nathan had to stop to breathe, because he couldn't even believe what he was about to say. "Are you threatening me?"

"Clarifying. I'm clarifying things for you. The AAS won't attack here. I made sure of that." He hesitated, biting his lip, and for a moment he was so much like Nathan's little brother it hurt. "How's Heidi?"

"Not here. Not anywhere you can get ahold of her."

"Right," Peter murmured, motioning to brush away his bangs.

Nathan rose from his seat, coming around the desk to Peter's side. "Pete, this isn't you. Just let me…"

Peter shoved him away. "You can't _fix_ me, Nathan! Not this time."

"Then I have to stop you. You know I do."

Peter rose, spreading his hands. "Here I am." Nathan didn't move, and Peter nodded. "Thought so. Now for once in your life, Nathan, _listen _to me. The AAS will not attack here. Just...don't _do_ anything. Alright? Don't help them, don't go against us. Stay out of it."

Nathan nodded slowly and Peter moved away, pushing the window open. He hesitated, staring out for a moment before looking back. "Flying away might be a good idea about now, Nathan. Just keep going."

"I have responsibilities," Nathan murmured. His gaze was locked on the carpet and he didn't look up as he spoke.

"Yeah. That sounds familiar."

There was no sound, no movement, but when Nathan looked up Peter was gone. Sighing, he leaned over the desk and punched the intercom to summon Mohinder.

Everything had changed now.

* * *

"Say something."

Mohinder shook his head slowly. "I cannot. It…Peter? Nathan, are you absolutely certain?"

"It was him. But…not the Peter I knew. Not my brother."

"But not a shapeshifter, or some other…"

"No." Nathan shook his head. "It was him."

Mohinder sighed, sitting backwards. "Then something has happened to him. Something has made him this way."

Nathan nodded, relieved beyond words that Mohinder believed him. "He said that…he was acting his breakdowns. That he wasn't ill, but I know my brother, Mohinder. He wasn't pretending."

"Think back," Mohinder suggested. "We know Peter is running D'MAPA now. Before they formed, can you think of anything out of the ordinary?"

Nathan dropped his head into his hands, thinking hard. "Yeah," he said suddenly, raising his head again. "SPD."

Mohinder shook his head, frowning, and Nathan continued quickly, "When SPD was attacked, Peter was…he didn't talk to me, he wouldn't answer his phone. When he got back here he was really bad, much worse than usual, so I figured that was what was wrong."

"But if he was acting…" Mohinder sat up straight suddenly. "SPD."

"Yes…" Nathan said slowly.

"Two years ago, Nathan. SPD."

"Primatech." Nathan grimaced, shoving to his feet to pace. "Damn it."

Mohinder watched for a minute, waiting patiently for Nathan to wear himself out. It happened quickly; with the exception of flying, Nathan wasn't much for psychical exertion anyway. Sighing, he dropped back into his seat. "Knowing how it happened isn't helping anyway. We need to know how to fix it."

Mohinder shook his head helplessly. "We may need to stop D'MAPA to do that, Nathan."

"If we stop D'MAPA the AAS is just gonna come right in in their place. I mean, look what they've done to the country, for god's sake."

"There are rumours," Mohinder began slowly, "of a third group."

Nathan nodded. "Isaac always painted three, Meta, Meta and human."

"If Peter and Bridge are leading two groups, that leaves human. And I have heard that there is a group composed mainly of displaced humans, and of those aliens who suffer for lack of SPD's protection."

"Human," Nathan murmured. "And who is running this group?"

Mohinder lifted one shoulder in a half-shrug. "There are many rumours. The most common is the technician, Boom. He was present during our visit to SPD."

"Little blond guy," Nathan said absently. "Kind of jumpy."

"Yes. He was on Earth when the SPD blockade began. He and the two Rangers, Nova and Sam, fell into D'MAPA's hands. When the base in Boston was attacked Sam and Nova were taken but Boom was left behind."

"The AAS…Bridge, Syd and Z…left Boom behind?" Nathan repeated in disbelief.

"Bridge seems to be recruiting only from the Meta community. Nova is the sole exception, as far as we can tell, and she is increasingly being sidelined."

"But they left Boom behind. How does that…" Nathan shook his head, deliberately forcing it away. "Boom. Can we get in touch with him?"

"Perhaps. Tate or Landors may be able to help; they seem to be unaligned so far."

"Do it," Nathan said. Mohinder nodded, rising to leave, and Nathan added idly, almost to himself, "I should review our budget. If we have less workers, there should be money we could reassign to…worthier causes."

Mohinder had paused at the door, and he caught Nathan's eye. "I can do that. Won't take long," he offered.

"Thanks. I'll see if I can find Landors or Tate, then," Nathan agreed, glancing once…almost wistfully…at the still-open window before turning back to his work.


	9. Chapter 9

The Wearing of Masks

Chapter 9

Sky groaned when there was a knock on his door. Now was not a good time for interruptions. Despite the destruction going on outside, he'd taken a long hard look at his life, starting with his apartment and he didn't liked what he saw. The place was a dump and back during his time at SPD he wouldn't have been caught dead in this much of a tip. Cleaning was in order, lots of it and he didn't appreciate being pulled away from it. The sooner the place was cleaned up, the happier he'd feel.

He yanked the door open and snapped, "What?" before recognising the person standing there. Bridge gave him a cheerful smile.

"Hello Sky."

"Hi," he said stupidly, not quite sure how to respond to his onetime roommate and despite himself, Jack's warning replayed in his mind before he shoved it away. He wasn't listening to that egotistical idiot with a martyr complex. "What are you doing here?"

"I can't just come visit?" Bridge asked innocently. "That's usually what friends do, Sky."

Sky stared at him and the former green ranger let out a dramatic sigh. "You're a very suspicious person, Sky. Anyone ever tell you that?"

Sky blinked, then frowned. That wasn't a typical Bridge statement. "Frequently," was all he said though. "Was there a reason you stopped by other than random flattery?"

"Have you see Jack lately?" was the not quite casual enough question and a chill ran down Sky's spine. Why would Bridge want to know that?

He shrugged. "A few days ago. He was worried that he hadn't heard anything from I or Z and wanted to see if I had." True. To a point. True enough that it wouldn't trip off Bridge's inbuilt bullshit detector.

"Jack's confused," Bridge said. "And the girls are fine, don't worry."

He looked at Bridge sharply. "You know where they are?"

"They're with me. Only, obviously not right now."

"Where are they then?" he asked and the shorter man shrugged.

"Angel Grove."

"What are they doing there?"

Bridge shrugged again. "Jack's confused, Sky," he repeated, ignoring the question. "He's not thinking clearly."

"When does Jack ever think clearly?" he replied, putting as much disdain into the non-question as he could. He could feel a headache building and resisted the urge to ease the tension there.

Bridge grinned. "You two never agreed on anything, did you?"

It was Sky's turn to shrug. Actually, after a while he and Jack had agreed on more things than most people realised. They understood each other and reacted accordingly. It wasn't his fault if people on the outside didn't get that. "Depends on what we were arguing about," he said. "Is there a point to this, Bridge?"

"The AAS isn't what you think it is."

"The AAS? Bridge, what are you talking about?" _Damn it_, he thought. Looked like Jack had been onto something.

"We're protecting the planet Sky. We're just doing it a different way."

Sky rubbed his forehead, trying to ignore the faint buzzing growing in his ears. "By blowing places up?"

"Corrupt places. They were harbouring potential threats, we just eliminated the threats before they got to the point they couldn't be dealt with."

"We're past those kinds of arguments Bridge. They went out twenty years ago."

"They went underground," Bridge corrected. "They didn't disappear. And places like Los Angeles were just hotbeds of potential alien threats. Honestly, Sky, you wouldn't have believed it if you'd been there."

"_You blew up Los Angeles?"_ Sky yelled. "What the hell were you _thinking?!_ Do you know how many people lived in LA?"

"Every war has casualties," was the cool response and Sky felt like shaking Bridge until he started sounding like himself again. Hearing Bridge like this was far more alien than even the more unusual actual aliens had ever been.

"So what are you going to do, Bridge? Attack everywhere that has a high xeno population? Which includes New Tech, by the way."

Bridge looked shocked. "Of course I wouldn't attack New Tech!" he said, looking wounded at the idea while at the same time the buzzing in Sky's ears got steadily louder. "Sky, are you alright? You don't look so good."

He didn't _feel_ so good either. "Headache," he muttered. "That's all."

Bridge didn't seem to buy it, but he didn't say anything anyway, simply reaching out to take Sky's hands and for the first time Sky realised that he wasn't wearing his gloves. "Bridge, where--?"

"I don't need them anymore. I can control my powers without them."

"But—" Sky broke off as the headache shot up another notch, coinciding with Bridge taking his hands, and he sank into a crouch, Bridge moving with him.

"Come back with me, Sky," Bridge said quietly. "Let me show you what we're doing."

"Bridge…"

"You need to see for yourself, Sky. See that we're not evil."

"Never said you were."

"But you were thinking it." Bridge gave him a crooked grin. "Don't need to be psychic to know that."

Sky dropped his gaze from Bridge's as his headache intensified, the buzzing in his ears almost unbearable. Add to that the _persuasion_ and _reassurance_ now being projected in his direction and he felt as if he were about to pass out.

"Think about it," Bridge said softly, squeezing his fingers. "Just think about it, Sky." With that he let go of Sky's hands and let himself out. The moment he was gone, Sky fell the short distance forward to his knees, hands bracing himself against the wall. He felt exhausted; like he'd just run the entire mud swamp with the megazord on his back. Letting himself fall onto his back he stared up at the ceiling, heavy weight in his stomach. He hated it when Jack was right.

Eventually he climbed back to his feet and picked up the phone. Flicking through the small notepad he found the number for the shelter scrawled there and dialed it, waiting for the line to go through.

"Is Jack there?" he asked abruptly, talking over the luckless person who'd answered the phone.

"Just a moment, please." There was a muffled yell of Jack's name and it wasn't long before Jack picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

"I just had an interesting visit," he said.

"Oh?" Jack sounded surprised, but he figured that had more to do with surprise at him calling than anything else.

"Yeah," he replied. "It was very enlightening."

"Well, if you're planning on enlightening _me_, can you get on with it please?"

"I think I know where the girls are and what happened to them."

"I know where they are," was the disconcerting reply, but Jack continued before he could demand to know how the other man had worked that out. Especially since the last time they'd spoken Jack hadn't heard from them. "They're in Angel Grove. Don't know what's wrong with them though."

"Bridge," Sky replied succinctly. "By the way, if you run into him, don't let him touch you. That's how he's doing it."

"Doing what, exactly?"

"Brainwashing, for lack of a better term. He tried it on me just now, gave me one hell of a headache, too," he muttered under his breath, rubbing at his temples in an attempt to ease the ache still lingering there.

"He tried it on you?" Jack's voice sharpened. "It didn't work?"

Sky sighed at the suspicion lacing Jack's tone. "Jack, if it had worked would I be talking to you right now?"

Pause. "Good point. So why didn't it work?" Sky wasn't sure what it meant that Jack hadn't pointed out the blatant flaw in that last piece of logic, then decided against it. It would just be counterproductive anyway.

Sky shrugged, despite the fact that Jack couldn't see him. "Bridge has never been able to get a read on me. Kat thinks it's something to do with my shields. A mental component or something like that."

"Huh. Okay, so now we know what Bridge did to the girls. I don't suppose it's worth asking if you managed to get anything else?"

Sky smirked, again even though Jack couldn't see him. For some reason his headache seemed to have disappeared completely. "How about a list of places the AAS is likely to attack? Does that count as 'anything else'?"

There was a choked sound of surprise. "He _told_ you that?" Jack yelped and Sky sighed.

"Not as such. But they're still the targets, Jack."

"Okay." There was a pause before Jack continued with not the most logical question. "Can you make it over here? This conversation'll probably work better if we're in the same place."

"Sure, I can be there. Just give it some time, I want to be sure he's gone before I leave."

"Fair enough."

"What happens when he comes back, Jack?"

"He's coming back?" was the startled question and Sky sighed. Obviously if he'd just said Bridge was coming back, he was coming back.

"He told me to think about it. He probably figures he might have to work a little harder considering he knows my powers block his." He had an idea anyway, if he could convince Bridge he agreed then maybe…

"No."

He frowned at the far wall. "No what?"

"You are not going to go undercover, Sky. We need you here."

He scowled at the phone. He hated it when Jack anticipated him. When had the other man figured him out so well? "You need someone in there," was all he said.

"We have someone there. That's how I know where the girls are."

"Who?" he demanded and wasn't reassured by the long silence before Jack responded.

"Nova."

"_Nova?_"he all but yelled into the phone. "Are you _nuts?_ Jack, she's too young."

"She's all we've got," was the weary response. "And anyway, she's red ranger Sky. Whatever that means anymore now that SPD's gone. She'll be alright."

Sky sighed. "Alright," he said unhappily. "But if Bridge or the others figures it out… she's surrounded by Metas who aren't afraid to use their abilities to attack people."

"You think I don't that?" Jack snapped. "Because believe me, I do, but she's there and she's all we've got. We need her there. And we need you here."

"Alright, I get it already," Sky muttered under his breath, annoyance warring with pleased surprise at the constant statements that he was needed. It felt like forever since he'd been needed.

"Say what?" was the slightly annoyed reply, clearly Jack hadn't heard him properly, which was just as well.

"Doesn't matter," he said. "Okay, give me half an hour and I'll be there. Then we can start putting this together."

"Sure. Half an hour. Later, Sky."

Sky rolled his eyes, 'Later' he mouthed to himself as he hung up the phone. Only Jack.

* * *

"Claire?" Matt called, picking his way carefully across the floor.

They were on the third floor of a bookshop, damaged and abandoned after the last round of riots. The ground floor was a total loss: the door and windows were smashed in, most of the books had been destroyed by rain and someone had tried to set fire to the rest. The second floor was all in one piece, but the third was littered with shards of glass from the broken skylight. Open and indefensible in two places, the building was useless for shelter, which was what Claire and Matt had been looking for. Peter's army was growing beyond his ability to house it and he had several groups out looking for more space.

He rounded the corner into the children's department, stumbling slightly on the glass. Claire was kneeling in front of a set of shelves, oblivious to the shards slicing her legs open, and didn't look up when he crunched his way to her side.

"You ready to go? This place gives me the creeps."

"My dad had a set of these." Claire's voice was oddly soft. Matt glanced down; she was methodically reshelving a set of children's classics, lining them up in the right order. "A big, leather bound set. He used to read them to me—The Little Princess, The Railway Children. What Katy Did."

"Do you want them?" Matt scanned the shelf, pulling off a copy of The Little Princess. "Here."

Claire didn't answer, and he looked down to find her crying silently. Sighing quietly, he eased himself down to sit on the floor—ignoring, as best he could, the glass biting into his legs—and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Claire resisted for all of two seconds before leaning into him, hot tears staining his shirt. Still she made no sound, only clutched his jacket tightly and shook.

It wasn't totally unexpected; almost everyone broke at some point. Most came back stronger for it. Usually it was something small that set them off; he'd seen someone break down over the brand of bottled water they'd been using.

It was a long time—maybe half an hour—before Claire relaxed, letting go of him and reaching up to rub at her face. Matt loosened his grip, letting her pull away, and occupied himself with trying to brush the glass off his trousers, giving her space to pull herself back together.

"We should go," she said finally.

"Yeah. You ok?"

"Mmm." She rose to her feet, glass tinkling around her. "Let's get out of here."

* * *

Matt could never explain it, afterwards. He'd been scanning around them the whole time, he _knew _there was no one around. But when he and Claire reached the ground floor, someone moved out of the shadows.

Claire plunged past him, and for a second he thought she was attacking. The next instant he realised she was _hugging_ the newcomer.

"Claire," he said warningly, and she broke away, flushed and smiling.

"Matt, this is Zach! We were friends in Odessa."

"Claire, come here." Matt held out one hand to her; the other rested on his holster.

"Matt," Claire protested, bewildered. "It's Zach."

"I can't hear what he's thinking," Matt told her. "Come here."

Claire glanced at Zach, who smiled faintly. "It's alright. Go." She let Matt tug her away as Zach added, "I'm alone. I didn't come here to fight."

"Why would we fight you?" Claire protested.

"Because he's with the Fifth Column," Matt told her. "He's one of the leaders."

"_Zach?"_ Claire repeated in disbelief. The Fifth Column had rapidly established themselves in the bizarre three-way war; they fought very little, only when cornered, and mostly concerned themselves with limiting the damage caused by the AAS and D'MAPA. They were uncannily successful, too; Peter was sure there was a spy somewhere in their ranks, probably more than one, but neither he nor Matt had been able to ferret anyone out.

"For the record, we didn't actually betray anyone," Zach said mildly. "So Fifth Column? Not the most accurate name. I mean, historically speaking and all."

"What do you want, Zach?" Matt demanded. Claire glanced at him, frowning.

"I have a message for Claire."

"Claire doesn't want to hear anything you have to say."

"Matt!" Claire protested, yanking her arm free of his grip.

"He's _Fifth Column, _Claire."

"He's my friend." Deliberately, she turned her back on him to look at Zach. "What is it?"

"First of all? Your mother and brother are safe. They're with us." He picked up a book as he spoke, concentrating on wiping the dirt off it.

"They're alive?" she repeated in disbelief. "Odessa was flattened. We watched it."

"We weren't in Texas by then, Claire, we were already gone. But they're fine, they're alive and safe. Promise."

"As long as Claire does what she's told," Matt said disgustedly.

"Your side uses tricks like that. Not us." There was unexpected steel in Zach's voice. "Claire's family is as safe as anyone can be right now."

"Can I see them?" Claire asked.

Zach bit his lip uncertainly; the steel was gone again. "You'd have to join the Fifth Column. You're not ready for that yet."

"Claire's not joining the Fifth Column," Matt told him. "In fact, I should just take you back to our headquarters right now."

Zach shrugged. "We knew you might. Probably would. But I don't know anything. We made sure of that. We have the occasional Meta too." He grinned at the frustrated look on Matt's face.

"Why can't I hear what you're thinking?" Matt demanded.

"I can't talk about that. I just came for Claire."

"Tell them I love them," Claire said quietly.

"I will," Zach agreed. "Claire, there's something else, too."

"Of course there is," Matt muttered. "Want some inside information?"

"I don't want anything," Zach said calmly.

"Matt, shut up," Claire said abruptly. "Zach, go on."

"Your father's alive. We know where he is."

Claire stared at him for a full minute before she managed to say "My father's dead."

"No he's not. He's not even injured, not anymore. All healed up."

"He died. Years ago," Claire insisted.

"No, he didn't," Matt said reluctantly. "Primatech took him when he lost you. But they didn't kill him."

"You knew?" Claire backed away from Matt, towards Zach.

"We didn't know for sure," Matt said quickly. "We heard rumours, that's all."

"And you didn't _tell _me?" She was still backing away, and Zach reached to steady her when she tripped over the mess on the floor. Turning quickly, she asked, "Where is he?"

"The AAS rescued him. He's with them." Zach glanced over his shoulder. "I have to go, Claire. Your people are coming."

"You can't…"

Claire cut Matt off without looking at him. "Go. Thank you."

Zach grinned, hugging her too briefly for Matt to complain before slipping past them, vanishing into the shadows at the back of the shop.

"Claire, that's a _Fifth Columnist _you just let leave," Matt protested.

"I'm not talking to you," Claire informed him.

"When Peter finds out…"

"Do you think I care about Peter?" she demanding, rounding on him. There was no sign of the girl who'd cried on his shoulder only ten minutes earlier. "He knew my father was still alive and he didn't _tell_ me!"

"We didn't know anything for sure, Claire. We've been trying…"

"Stop it," Claire insisted. "Let's go."


	10. Chapter 10

Author's note: Sorry, guys! My alerts weren't working so I wasn't getting your reviews.

Momo Jojo; Hush, you. Stop with the giving away of things.

Davidkenneth: Thanks! I'm glad you're enjoying. We had a lot of fun writing it.

kitsune::Waves at you::

Bellacordelia: Sorry! Can't make any promises.

The Wearing of Masks

Chapter 10

It was dusk when Sky walked in his front door and tossed the keys onto the table. The information dump at the shelter was barely sinking in, despite his own first hand experience with Bridge that afternoon and he needed some space to assimilate it all. It seemed he'd gotten out of the habit of rapidly analysing and absorbing information in the time since he'd left SPD. He jumped in surprise as the phone rang shrilly, a jarring noise in the otherwise silent apartment, and he stared at it for a moment before picking it up. When had been the last time anyone had called him?

"Sky Tate?" was the cautious question and he frowned at the unfamiliar voice on the other end of the line. Who did he know with a British accent?

"Yes," he said carefully. "Who is this?"

"Doctor Mohinder Suresh. We met a couple of years ago?"

Sky's eyebrows shot up. "I remember. You were with the Petrellis when they visited the Delta Base." Not British, then, Indian.

"Yes, I was. I'm glad you remember. A lot happened during that visit."

Sky snorted softly. Talk about understatement. "Is there a reason you're calling me, Doctor Suresh?"

"Yes. A very big reason. You're the only one of the former rangers I've been able to get hold of."

"Why are you looking for us?" Sky demanded, stiffening automatically at the fact that someone was looking for them.

"We, ah, have a problem."

* * *

Jack grumbled under his breath, muttering curses at whoever was banging on the door as he made his way towards it. What could _possibly_ be so important that whoever it was felt the need to almost break down the door?

"What?" he snapped as he yanked the door open, only to find himself snapping at Sky. The other man didn't comment, his eyebrows rising slightly instead.

"Peter Petrelli's leading D'MAPA."

Jack stared at his former second in command. "Say what?"

"Do I really need to repeat myself?"

Jack shook his head. "No. Come on in."

"Thanks," was the sarcastic response and he glowered at the taller man. When Sky simply smirked at him though, it took a lot of effort not to grin himself. A week ago, a glower like that would have set Sky off with his panties in a wad; now he was reacting more like he used to, stepping past Jack without waiting for further invitation and walking into the empty main room. It seemed, Jack thought, that the crisis with Bridge was bringing back the old Sky, although there was a sort of perverse irony that it took a crisis to start the other man's healing. But that was beside the point, he told himself firmly. They had bigger problems.

"So," he said as they sat down on beaten up seats. "Peter Petrelli, huh?" Why hadn't Sky mentioned this before?

"Yep. I got a phone call not long after I got back to my apartment. Turned out to be Mohinder Suresh, remember him?"

"Yeah. The PR guy for Nathan Petrelli, right?"

"His aide," Sky corrected. "But yeah. Him. Turns out Peter paid his brother a visit, admitted to leading D'MAPA and warned him to stay out of things."

"And if he doesn't?"

"Washington goes the same way LA did. Only this time it'll be Peter responsible, not Bridge."

"Nice," Jack scowled. "So what are they calling you for?" He winced as the question came out. Not exactly the most tactful thing to say.

Sky shrugged. "I was the only one they could get hold of. They were trying to track down all of us. I don't think they know Bridge and the girls are AAS and I'm not actually sure why they couldn't get hold of you."

Jack shrugged. "Who knows," he replied blandly. "So. Now what? We know Peter Petrelli's heading D'MAPA, where does that leave us?"

"I don't know," Sky replied. "But I do have an idea as to what's going on with Bridge now."

Jack gave him a sharp look. "Why didn't you say that earlier?" he demanded and Sky gave him an even stare.

"Because it only just came to me, that's why."

"Oh, it came to you," Jack muttered. "Well that explains everything."

"Do you want to hear it or not?"

Jack held up his hands in innocence. "Hit me," he said. "Not literally," he added hastily and ignored the faint twitch at Sky's mouth.

"You never let me have any fun," the other man deadpanned and he glared.

"Are you planning on getting to the point any time soon?"

Sky shrugged. "Fine. Okay, here's what I think. It has something to do with what happened when there was that DMA visit to the base."

"Bridge and Peter were both taken," Jack said slowly.

"Exactly," Sky nodded. "What if something happened to them back then? Something that we all missed? That might explain why they're both doing this."

"It's as good an idea as any, I guess." Jack sighed. "We're going to have to go to Peter, aren't we?"

Sky nodded slowly, chewing his bottom lip unconsciously as he did so. "It might be the only way to stop Bridge and the girls. We're out of options."

Jack nodded back. "Okay. But if we're doing this, we need to be prepared." He headed into the small office at the back and pulled out a box. Dragging a table along behind him he set the box down, almost reverently. "Boom did some scavenging," he said. "And he really came through with this." He jerked his chin in Sky's direction. "Take a look."

Sky gave him a slightly suspicious look, as if expecting some kind of prank or joke at his expense, then cautiously opened the box. His eyes widened and his mouth fell open. "How?" he asked, stunned. "I though they were—"

"Toast? Yes and no." He smiled inwardly as Sky pulled the blue morpher out of the box. He wasn't surprised that Sky had zeroed in on it so easily, he'd picked up the red one without hesitation, a kind of familiarity that had called to him. He was surprised though, that Sky had instinctively gone for the blue one instead of red, although maybe there was less bitterness associated with his first morpher. It was just a good thing that Sam and Nova's squad had been using slightly updated tech, developed after they'd left SPD, otherwise they wouldn't have these right now. With the new technology being used, the 'old' morphers had been retired, and that would have left them with nothing. "He managed to put them back together from what little was left after the base was torched. We can't morph with them, but the communicator function still works. We can't guarantee that we'll be able to stick together in this. We need to be able to get hold of each other."

"Why don't you just use your cell phone?" Sky asked, although it didn't sound like he really cared about the answer. His fingers were tracing the casing of the morpher as if it were an old friend, his eyes soft and distant. No doubt he was remembering happier times.

"Do you even have a cell phone?" Jack shot back anyway and Sky's cheeks turned faintly pink.

"What do I need a cell phone for?" he asked defensively and Jack just shook his head.

"Exactly my point." Sky gave him a half-hearted glare, then slipped the communicator into his jeans pocket. Taking that as his cue, Jack picked up the red morpher and likewise slid it into his pocket. Not quite the holders they were used to, but they'd just have to make do. "So," he said lightly. "I don't suppose you know where we can find Peter Petrelli?"

* * *

"You're being ridiculous," Peter said semi-patiently.

Claire didn't look at him; arms wrapped tightly around her chest, she was staring out the window. It was taking everything she had not to hit him, for all the good it would have done. "You knew he was alive, and you didn't tell me."

"We didn't _know_ anything. We had a rumour…"

"You were told by a Primatech agent."

"The same agent who turned me over to Primatech," Peter said sharply. "You'll have to forgive me, I wasn't sure how _honest _she was."

"Don't make fun of this, Peter!" Claire turned to glare at him. "Even if it was only a rumour, you should have told me."

"We didn't want to upset you. Nathan is…"

"Nathan is not my father," Claire hissed. "My father is trapped in an AAS stronghold somewhere!"

"Somewhere," Peter agreed. "That's the problem. We have people looking, you know."

Claire didn't respond and he sighed, coming around the desk to stand next to her. "You know it's a trap, right?"

"No," Claire said quickly, "I don't think it is."

"I know Zach was your friend, but…"

"No, that's not what I mean. If it was a trap, he would have told me the Fifth Column had my dad. What good does it do them if I go to the AAS? That doesn't help anyone."

"It takes you away from here," Peter told her. "Away from me. I need you, Claire, you know that." He risked laying a hand on her arm; she tensed under him, but made no move to throw him off.

"You're not going to leave me, Claire, are you?" he asked quietly. Claire shuddered, slipping out from under his hand and backing away.

"I need him, Peter. Find him."

"We will, Claire."

Claire turned away, letting herself out of the room. Peter grimaced, dropping into his seat and not looking up as Matt came in. "Well?"

"She's slipping," Matt said quietly. "If the AAS produce him, or tell her they have him, she'll go…"

Peter hissed, sitting forward. "How do I keep her?"

"Find him and get him from them. There isn't anything else that can hold her here now." Matt shrugged.

"You should have taken him," Peter muttered. "Zach's head of the Earth-human side of the Column."

"He wouldn't have told us anything, he had someone pull everything useful before he came to find us. And I couldn't read him. I couldn't even sense him."

"Sounds like Boom's putting his talents to good use…find him, Matt. We can't let her go."

Matt nodded, letting himself out, and Peter fell back in his seat and stared out the window again.

* * *

Jack looked around the room, taking in everything. It wasn't what he'd expected. Of course, he hadn't actually had any ideas _what_ he was expecting, but this wasn't it. He scowled at the door impatiently, then tried to suppress his irritation, keep his thoughts neutral. With Matt for a bodyguard there was no way Peter wasn't telepathic and he didn't plan on giving the younger Petrelli brother anything he could use. They were here for one reason and one reason only and if Peter Petrelli didn't like it, then that was just too bad for him. They'd find another way.

He didn't realise he was tapping his foot impatiently until Sky kicked his shin, wordlessly telling him to pull himself together and he glowered at his former 2IC. It was alright for him, neither Matt or Peter would be able to read him. That left Jack as the weak link and he really hated that. He just hoped he wouldn't give away anything important.

If Peter ever showed up that was. He was keeping them waiting, which didn't endear him to Jack. It had taken he and Sky weeks to track D'MAPA down. They'd started in Boston, the last location they'd had after Boom had escaped the destruction of the DMA centre there, only to find it had been a waste of time; D'MAPA wasn't there anymore. They'd followed every lead they could come across, a painstaking trail that Jack would have given up on by now if he'd been on his own. But that was why he had Sky, wasn't it? to counter his fits of impulsiveness. Sky had the patience he lacked, the patience to follow every lead and the determination to keep going when lead after lead turned out to be useless. And it had paid off. They'd finally tracked D'MAPA to San Diego, which had been kind of a kick in the butt considering they'd travelled the length of the country only to turn around and go all the way back. But that was beside the point. They'd found what they were looking for and now they were being made to cool their heels; something neither of them was happy about.

Finally the door opened and Peter walked in, followed closely by Matt, the door closing quietly behind them.

"Well, I can honestly say this is a surprise," Peter said cheerfully as he sat down, Matt taking up station behind him. "You two were the last people I'd expected to see. Especially you, Sky. Word has it you hadn't left your apartment for months."

Sky shrugged. "Don't believe everything you hear."

Peter grinned. "Very true. So, what can I do for you? There is a reason you're here, I suppose?"

"Yeah," Jack said, lifting his chin defiantly. "We want to join you."

Peter's eyebrows shot up and his fingers reflexively went to brush away hair that was no longer there. "Why?" he asked. "I would have thought your loyalty would be… elsewhere."

"Do you want our help or not?" Sky asked. "We can talk terms afterwards."

Peter studied them sharply and Jack had the sinking feeling he was being read. With that in mind he determinedly kept his thoughts focused.

"Very well," Peter said eventually. "I won't deny we could use people with your talents. What are the terms?"

Jack exchanged glances with Sky who nodded back at him. "Bridge. Something was done to him and we want to reverse it. You're the only people who can help us do that."

"Bridge Carson, huh? He's currently leading the AAS."

"We know. All the more reason you should help us. With the AAS gone, D'MAPA can stand down," Jack said. "Assuming, of course," he continued, gaze fixed intently on Peter, "that D'MAPA is as honest as it claims."

Peter leant back in his chair. "I find your lack of faith disturbing," he said, assuming a hurt expression.

Sky snorted softly and it was Jack's turn to kick him in the shin. "Do we have a deal or not?" he asked and slowly Peter nodded.

"We have a deal. Welcome to D'MAPA, gentlemen. If you'll wait a couple of minutes I can get someone to help you get settled in." Matt handed him his phone and Peter punched in a number, waiting only for a moment before asking someone to come to the office. Five minutes later there was a knock on the door and Ando stuck his head round. "You wanted to see us, Peter?" he asked respectfully and Peter nodded.

"Yes. We have some new comrades, Ando. Can you and Hiro get them settled?"

Ando nodded easily. "Of course." He turned to look at them and smiled when he recognised them. "Hi," he said. "Long time no see."

Sky nodded back guardedly and Jack gave the man a casual smile. "Hi."

The Japanese man gestured at the door. "Come with us please?" he said and Jack nodded.

"Sure." Leaving the office they found Hiro leaning against the wall with, for some reason, a sword strapped across his back. Jack had seen a lot of weird things in his life but this had to top everything.

"It's beautiful isn't it," Peter said as Landors and Tate walked out the room.

"What is?" Matt asked.

The D'MAPA leader grinned. "They have no idea we destroyed SPD. And now they're going to hand us the AAS. With Carson gone, there'll be no one left to stand in our way. The irony, Matt, is beautiful. They've gone from saving the world to giving it to us."

Matt shook his head. "I don't trust them," he said and Peter sighed with frustration.

"Of course we don't trust them," he said. "Did you pick up anything from them?"

"Tate, no. He's like the Haitian guy; I could never get a read on him. Landors though, him I could read."

"And?"

"He was expecting to be read so I didn't pick up anything other than a 'take it or fuck you' attitude."

Peter nodded. "Same here. Still, despite the fact that they have their own agenda, we need them. Even if only because they can hand us the AAS on a plate."


	11. Chapter 11

The Wearing of Masks

Chapter 11

Jack and Sky walked through the halls of the building currently housing D'MAPA. Officially they were free to go just about everywhere, but neither of them were naïve enough to believe that. That being the case, for the moment they were content not to push things too far, simply exploring, learning the layout of the base and analysing it for strengths and weaknesses. The more they could learn the better. As they rounded another corner, they stopped sharply, halted by the presence of a blonde girl standing right in front of them.

"Hi," Jack said casually. "Can we help you?"

"You know where the AAS is," she said, her gaze fixed on them.

"Excuse me?"

"The AAS," she repeated impatiently. "You know where they are."

"Maybe," Jack allowed, holding up a hand to forestall Sky's inevitable protest. "Why do you want to know?"

The girl's jaw hardened. "They have my father," she said tightly. "I want him back."

"Your father?" Sky asked in confusion. "Why would they want your father?"

"He worked for Primatech," she replied, either not noticing the dual hiss of recognition at the name or just ignoring it. "They probably think he'll be useful or something." She folded her arms and some of the tough façade cracked. "I thought he was dead, but now I know he's not and I want him back."

Jack exchanged glances with Sky. "There's a base in Angel Grove," he said slowly. "He might be there or he might not, I don't know."

She nodded slowly. "Thank you," she said quietly and turned to leave.

"Wait a minute," Sky said quickly, tone uncompromising. "What made you think we knew where the AAS was?"

She shrugged. "I heard you. In the office."

"Eavesdropping on the boss? Not usually a good idea."

She shrugged. "It's a bad habit." Turning to leave, she hesitated for a moment before looking at them over her shoulder. "A word of advice, for what it's worth. Don't trust them. They don't tell the truth."

"You sure about that?" Jack asked neutrally and she nodded.

"I'm sure." And with that she resumed her exit.

"Hey!" Jack called after her. "You have a name?"

"Claire."

* * *

Claire was starting to get suspicious.

No—to be fair, she'd been suspicious for a while, now. She'd tried to give Peter the benefit of the doubt; even now, even with all that was happening, he was still her hero and she trusted him. But it was getting to be too much; Matt wouldn't talk to her, Peter was avoiding her, and as far as she could tell there was no one even looking for her father anymore. The two new recruits, Jack and Sky, had been more concerned than Peter.

Once they'd figured out what she was planning, Jack and Sky had taken the time to have several conversations with her. She'd been surprised to learn that they were in contact with the Fifth Column, and more surprised that they risked telling her. The day before she left Jack gave her several code words to give Nova, to convince her of Claire's truthfulness and make sure that Nova would help her. Claire had promised in return to give any aid she could to Nova if it was needed.

Claire had no rank in D'MAPA. She didn't officially even work for them. But everyone knew she had influence with Peter…or had, at one point. She wasn't sure he even heard her anymore, not unless he wanted something. Well, two could play at that game.

Jack's information had been good and she had found Angel Grove with no difficulty. The guards at the gate of the university had caused her a lot of trouble, at least until when one had hit her and she'd healed right up. They'd believed she was Meta then, at least, and called through for someone to come get her.

'Someone' turned out to be Wunderkind, Nova trailing dispiritedly behind the other two.

"Claire," Micah said in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you guys," Claire lied quickly. "We lost track of you after Boston."

"What are you doing _here_?" Sam asked. "How'd you find us?"

"Someone who knows told me. Sam, where's Bridge?"

Sam glanced at Micah, frowning. "You should come with us."

Claire nodded, following Micah passively. Nova fell into step with her, and Sam followed them.

"Jack wants to know about the toast here," Claire said, almost under her breath. Nova jerked, almost tripping, and Claire caught her arm, raising her voice to say "Careful! Don't trip."

"Nova," Sam snapped, and Claire let go, stepping away.

* * *

They hadn't let her see Bridge, of course. She wasn't expecting them to. At least the room they left her in was nice enough, and they didn't actually lock the door. The two guards outside kind of made it pointless.

Micah came by to give her a tray, but he didn't stay or talk anymore than he had to. An older Meta, a girl, came to ask why Claire was there and how she'd found them; Claire told her the same things she'd already told Micah, and asked to see Bridge again.

"Give me one good reason," the girl—Syd, she'd called herself—said. "You haven't told me anything yet."

"I'm not telling you anything. I want to see Bridge."

Syd shook her head. "You don't just see Bridge on command. Tell me something useful. Make it worth his while."

"I worked for Peter Petrelli."

Syd considered her for a moment. "And?"

"And I want to talk to Bridge."

Sighing, Syd rose to her feet and headed for the door. "You might want to come up with something better than that. Bridge won't see you if that's all you have to say."

It was another day and a half after that before Nova slipped into the room, carrying the tray Micah usually brought.

"You know Jack?" she asked quickly, glancing at the door.

"Jack told me how to get here. Nova, my dad's here. He was a prisoner in Primatech, and your guys rescued him."

"Who?"

"Bennett." It was odd to use that name again; she'd been Claire Petrelli for a long time now. "I'm Claire Bennett."

"Bennett? Yeah." Nova nodded. "I know him. Sort of. He doesn't leave his room much."

Claire found herself sitting on the bed with no memory of moving. Nova was yelling the guards out of the room, drawing on authority she obviously didn't really have to make them let her stay.

As soon as they'd withdrawn Nova came back, kneeling beside Claire. "We only have a minute," she whispered urgently. "They're going to call Sam and Micah."

"He's ok?" Claire wasn't listening to her.

"He's fine. He's fine. Claire, listen to me."

The door burst open and Nova spun. Claire raised her head to see Sam standing in the doorway.

"Something wrong, Nova?" he asked.

"I didn't feel well," Claire said quickly. "Nova was just making sure I was ok."

"Are you?" Sam said disinterestedly.

"Yes. I'm fine. Just dizzy, for a minute."

"Thought you couldn't get sick."

"I can't get hurt. If I stand up too fast I still get dizzy."

"Good. Let's go, Nova."

Nova nodded quickly, pushing to her feet. "Coming. Claire, take it easy for a little while, ok?"

"Yeah. _Thank_ you."

Nova nodded, following Sam out of the room and leaving Claire alone.

* * *

She finally got to see Bridge the next day; the only way she could find to do it was attack her guards and keep fighting. Syd and another Meta turned up after a couple of minutes and Claire attacked them as well; the second Meta replicated herself and weighed her down, forcing her into immobility.

"Let me guess," Syd said dryly. "You want to see Bridge. Let her up, Z."

The various versions of the dark haired Meta climbed off Claire, letting her regain her feet and vanishing again. "Yeah," she said breathlessly, feeling the bruising on her face clear and the cut on her arm heal up. "I want to see Bridge."

"Lucky for you, he wants to see you. This way."

Wunderkind met them along the way and fell in behind them. Claire ignored them except to catch Nova's eye once; she was busy trying to plan her speech for Bridge. She _had _to get Bridge to let her join; she couldn't afford to be turned away now.

As it turned out she didn't need it; Bridge opened the door to his office himself, gesturing her in, and she took one step before she realised who else was here.

"Dad? Oh, dad, oh…" Claire stumbled in, collapsing beside his chair and crying incoherently into his lap.

"Probably really her father, then," Syd said, just loudly enough to be heard. Claire swallowed hard, raising her head and studying her father.

"It's really you."

"It's really me, Claire-Bear," he agreed, urging her quietly up from the floor.

"Are you…"

"I'm fine. Claire, what are you doing here?"

"Looking for you," she murmured. "Za…one of the Fifth Column told me you were here. Dad, I thought you were _dead_."

"I thought I was dead for a while too," he agreed.

Bridge walked past them, close enough to jog Claire's arm, and she turned to watch him. "So you're Claire Bennett," he said thoughtfully, studying her.

"Yeah." Claire scrubbed her cheeks. "I am."

"Not Petrelli?"

"That's my birth father. This is my father." She leaned against his arm as she spoke.

"But you've been living with the Petrellies for years now."

"Because I thought he was dead." Claire caught her breath, grimacing. Bridge was watching her closely, and she couldn't shake the feeling he was amused by her.

"Welcome to the AAS," he said finally.

She shook her head quickly. "I'm not joining you. I just want my dad."

"Z," Bridge said without looking away. Several versions of Z immediately stepped forward, pulling Mr Bennett away from his seat and hustling him out of the room before Claire could object.

"Dad! Bridge, what is…"

"He's not useful anymore." Bridge turned away, picking up a file from his desk and leafing idly through it. "He brought you here. And he's told us what we need about Primatech."

"Not useful? How can…"

"Did you know Primatech found a way to artificially induce the Meta mutation? Wasn't stable, unfortunately. One of their test subjects clawed his own face off…" He looked up from the file, catching her glare. "Are you going to be useful, Claire?"

"How can I be useful?" She managed, just, to keep her tone on the right side of 'insolent'.

"You worked for Peter Petrelli."

"Yes."

"Tell me."

Claire blinked, looking down. "If I…if I tell you what I know…"

"Then you and your father are safe, yes." Bridge started flicking through his files again. "Think about it, won't you?" To Syd, he added, "Get her out of here, now."


	12. Chapter 12

Author's note: Sorry for the (very) long delay. RL is a bitch. I should be back on track now, though.

Chapter 12

Claire told him, of course. Anything and everything she could think of.

Over the next couple of days Bridge called her randomly, sometimes late at night, sometimes in the middle of the day. Sometimes he asked her specific questions; sometimes he let her talk. Sometimes when she reached his office he sent her away again. The uncertainty wore on her and after a couple of days she was nervous and tired.

Nova slipped in to see her a couple of times, but they both knew they were being monitored and neither dared say anything important. Even the code phrases Nova and Jack had arranged were dangerous, if overused, and Claire didn't use them much. There was little Nova could do for her anyway, couldn't risk taking her out or bringing her anything, but just knowing she had an ally buoyed her up and made it easier to handle Bridge's capriciousness.

She wasn't sure how long it was before Bridge allowed her to see her father. Her room was constantly lit, her watch had been taken, and even her meals came at wildly varied intervals. Her sense of time was totally gone, but she thought it had been two days, maybe three. She'd tried asking Nova, as they headed for her father's room, but the other girl didn't answer.

Her father looked old and tired when she was let into his room, and they spent the first several minutes assuring each other that they were ok. Nova waited patiently for them to finish before saying quietly, "I can get the cameras off for a couple of minutes, no more. Be _careful._" Bennett nodded quickly, and Nova left.

"Why do we need the cameras off?" Claire asked quietly.

"Because I'm going to tell you how to stop Bridge and Peter."

Claire blinked, sitting back on her heels and staring at him. "How can…"

"After you left," he told her, "Primatech had me. And they used to…one of the scientists used to tell me what was happening in the world. I thought she was trying to be nice, but…She told me about Bridge and Peter when they were taken. That they were working on Bridge, altering his…his mind. Changing him."

"Changing him how?"

"To make him theirs. The way Sylar was, until he went insane."

Claire nodded slowly, rising to sit next to him. "And Peter?"

"Leeched it. They knew he would. That's why they didn't do anything but disorient him. It meant he didn't realize Bridge was different until it was too late."

"Then why are they crazy? That doesn't seem like the point."

"It's not. They didn't finish. Nathan and the Rangers found them too quickly. Bridge…and Peter…were supposed to be loyal to Primatech. Instead they're loyal to themselves and whatever values are left after Primatech got done twisting them."

"Bridge wants to keep Earth safe from aliens," Claire said slowly. "Peter wants Metas to be safe. But they're trying to get it by fighting."

Bennett nodded. "Things they both want anyway. But twisted. Claire-Bear, they're _dangerous._ Do you understand?"

"Yeah, Dad. I know. But how do we stop them?"

"The programming, the changes Primatech were making, they're not complete. Bridge and Peter know who they were. Bridge turns people with a touch but if someone he knew then, someone who knows who he was, can get to him without him realising…the change will be knocked clear and he'll be himself again."

"That'll work?" Claire asked nervously. "It seems too easy."

"It'll work. But it _won't_ be easy. He's turned almost everyone who knew him."

"Jack and Sky…"

"He's suspicious of them, he won't let them near him."

"And they've joined Peter," Claire muttered. "How do I save him, Dad? How do I save Peter?"

"Peter…" Bennett started, but the door opened before he could continue.

"Time to go," Nova said quietly.

"Can't we just…" Claire started.

"No. Bridge wants you. Come on."

Claire hugged her father and got up, following Nova from the room. "We need to talk, soon," she murmured. Nova nodded minutely but didn't turn or look at her, only led her on to Bridge's office.

* * *

Jack hung up the phone and looked at Sky, the other man moving away from the window and sitting down. The room was as secure as they could make it in a place run by Peter Petrelli and they tried to keep their Fifth Column business limited to it. Anywhere else was too much of a risk. "You need to get hold of Mohinder," he said, slipping the phone into his jacket. "Nova says she's found out what happened to Bridge and thinks she knows how we can get Bridge back." It was so easy, he thought in frustration. It should have been obvious after all. If Bridge converted by touch then touch could bring him back. Why hadn't they thought of that?

Sky's forehead creased. "How?"

Jack sat down in the other chair in the room. "Touch," he said and saw the same comprehension and chagrin cross Sky's face. "Obvious huh?" he offered with a self-deprecating smile.

"You'd think," Sky replied dryly. "She knows what happened to Bridge?" he continued, eyebrows raised in query.

"Primatech. We were right on that score. They wanted Bridge and Peter to work for them and so they tried to brainwash them, only they didn't get the chance to finish."

"And now we have D'MAPA and the AAS trying to remake the world," Sky finished heavily. "Wonderful."

"But at least we know how to stop them now," Jack said forcefully. "Which is why--"

"I need to get hold of Mohinder, I get it." Sky held out his hand for Jack's phone and the former red ranger rolled his eyes before handing it over. He sat quiet while Sky made arrangements for a meeting, then mouthed 'Nova' at him. Sky nodded and smoothly inserted Nova's presence to the upcoming meeting.

"You're sure?" Mohinder asked and Nova nodded.

"Mr. Bennett was very clear. If someone not corrupted touches Bridge it will knock him free of Primatech's meddling. It's possible that it will also be effective on Peter, if he can absorb it from someone who hasn't been… tampered with."

"Bridge should be relatively easy," Sky said. "Jack or I could--"

"He doesn't trust you," Nova interjected. "He might not know you're technically with D'MAPA but you're not with him either."

Sky sighed. "We won't be able to get near him," he surmised and Nova shook her head.

"No. Boom might be able to though," she said, turning to the fourth member of the group. "Bridge wouldn't suspect anything from him."

Boom looked like he was thinking about it, then shook his head. "Maybe, maybe not. I might not be able to get close enough and if he knows I'm connected with the Fifth Column I wouldn't get any closer than Sky or Jack would."

Mohinder tapped his pen on the table. "Alright. We can assign jobs later. Is there any more information that needs to be passed on?"

Boom straightened. "Yes. And it's related to getting through to Peter, I think."

Mohinder's eyebrows rose. "Oh?"

"Who would you say the most influential person in D'MAPA is? Other than Peter."

"Matt," Mohinder answered instantly. "Peter rarely goes anywhere without him. He probably knows more about D'MAPA than anyone else."

"Which would make him the ideal candidate to get through to him then. Other than Mr. Petrelli of course," he added hastily. "And we appreciate the funding from him, but he's not best placed to get through to Peter."

"And Matt is. How do you plan on changing Matt's mind?" Boom smiled and handed over a small photograph of a smiling dark haired woman. "Janice?" Mohinder asked in surprise. "I thought she was killed in the AAS attacks."

"Not so much," Boom replied. "And we think she's our best chance of getting through to Matt Parkman."

"We need an intervention," Sky said softly. "A face off. Get Peter and Bridge in one place, then snap them out of Primatech's mindfuck."

"But," Nova interjected, "even if we manage to get through to Mr. Parkman and he gets Peter to the showdown, who snaps Bridge out?"

"You do," Sky said quietly and the girl snapped her head round to stare at him.

"Me?" she squeaked. "Why me?"

"Because you'll already be there and Bridge won't expect an attack from you," Sky told her.

"But--"

"You can do it, Nova," he said, voice softening a little. "You wouldn't have been made red ranger if you didn't have what it takes. You can do it."

She swallowed a little, then nodded resolutely. "Okay."

Mohinder cleared his throat. "Now that that's settled, all that's left are the details. How, where and when."


	13. Chapter 13

Author's note: Hey!

Kyoshiro: Thanks! Hope this lives up to your expectations.

katana: I have to be honest: Sky was mostly the product of my wonderful cowriter. I had very little to do with him. But we're both glad you're enjoying it!

Chapter 13

"This is a really bad idea," Claire hissed.

Nova, half a corridor ahead, winced and waved her to silence, checking quickly around the corner. "Clear…it's the only plan we have."

"That doesn't mean it's not stupid!"

Nova came back towards her. "You can still say no."

"No I can't."

"No, you can't," she agreed. "Sorry."

Claire sighed, leaning against the wall. "What happens if Bridge finds me first?"

"Bridge isn't here. Inspection tour on the Non-Meta work parties…which is where I should be, technically. He won't find you."

"As soon as he sees you…"

Nova touched the tiny bump under her shirt automatically. The pendants were nearly flawless, but they were visible. Boom was trying to make them smaller, but there were limits to what he could do with his current lack of resources. "Boom's blockers. Bridge won't know anything. Neither will Peter or Matt. It's all down to you. Are you ready?"

"Does it matter?"

"No," Nova said unrepentantly. "This is the only chance we have to stop them before they go too far." She caught the flicker of fear that Claire couldn't quite hide and added more gently, "You're not alone. Remember that. The Fifth Column is ready to help you, all along the way. And your father will be gone from here today. I'll get him back to your family."

"You won't be in trouble?"

"I can do it. Zach's waiting."

"Zach," Claire breathed.

"You can't see him," Nova warned her. "You don't have time. We need to go, now, and you need to trust me."

Claire nodded, pushing away from the wall. "Let's go."

Nova turned away, checking around the corner again, and the pair slipped quietly out of the AAS's Angel Grove headquarters.

* * *

Nova was startled awake when Sam pushed her door open. He was talking to someone over his shoulder and she had time to sit up before he turned to her.

"Did you do it?" he demanded.

"Do what?" Nova leaned over to flip on her light. "What time is it?"

"Claire Bennett's gone, and so's her father. Did you do it? Nova, did you?"

"Why would I want to do it?"

"Nova," he repeated impatiently, "this is important. I can't protect you this time."

"You're gonna protect me? I'm still your Red Ranger, Sam. Still your team leader."

"SPD's dead," Sam said firmly. "We're following Bridge now. And he only wants useful people, Nova. Did you do it?"

"No." Nova rose to her feet, glaring at him.

"Bridge wants you." Sam didn't react to the glare.

"Get out."

"Nova…"

"Get out," she repeated firmly. "I'm not getting dressed while you're here."

"Bridge is waiting…"

"He can wait. Get out."

Sam did, glowering at her, and Nova allowed herself exactly ten seconds to panic before pulling herself back together and yanking on her SPD uniform. Sam didn't comment when she came out, only raised an eyebrow at her and turned to lead the way to Bridge's office—as if she didn't know where it was.

Distantly Nova realised that Sam had finally hit his growth spurt and his head was now almost level with hers. _Everything changes,_ she thought vaguely.

Bridge was waiting when they reached his office; Sam paused outside, gesturing her in. Nova didn't hesitate, striding straight in.

"Nova." Bridge studied her for a moment. "The Bennetts have vanished. You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"

"No. Have they?"

"Careful," he warned her. "Your position here's not as safe as you seem to think it is."

Nova very deliberately backed down, dropping her gaze and hunching her shoulders. "Sorry."

"Better. Tell me about the Bennetts."

"I don't know anything." Desperately she grasped for the first song that came to mind—Jingle Bells, as it happened—and mentally sang it as loudly as she could. "Only what Sam said, that they're gone. What happened?"

"You weren't with your work party. Why not?"

"I wasn't feeling well." _Dashing through the snow, on a one horse open sleigh…_

"You seem ok now."

"Twenty four hour bug." She fidgeted, knowing he was expecting it. "Bridge, can I…"

"Where did they go?"

"I don't know." That at least was true; Claire was heading for the AAS and Zach was taking Mr Bennett to Fifth Column headquarters, but Nova didn't know where either of those places were.

Bridge studied her for a moment before yelling towards the door, "Sam!"

Sam came in, pausing behind Nova. She didn't turn to look at him, but she was acutely uncomfortable having him there.

"Sam," Bridge said slowly, pacing around in front of her, "what would you do with a non-Meta who lied to escape work detail?"

"Punishment work," Sam said promptly.

"Even if that person was once SPD?"

"SPD is still going," Nova started, but Bridge glared at her and she stopped without meaning to.

"Even then," Sam agreed.

Bridge smiled faintly, looking back at Nova. "Well?"

Nova grimaced, turning to look at Sam. "Sam…"

"You should have just done the work," he muttered, not looking at her. To Bridge, he added, "Let it go this time."

"Alright," Bridge agreed. "She's your responsibility, then."

Sam nodded, dragging Nova away before she could say anything else.

Outside he dropped her arm, glaring at her. "I told you. Just…just do what you're told, ok? I can't help you again."

* * *

"It's like he's not even really Sam," she said later, gripping the phone so tightly the plastic creaked in protest.

"_Are you ok? Do they suspect you?"_ Boom's voice faded in and out, obscured by static half the time, but she could follow it well enough.

"I don't think so. Not any more than they suspect everyone else, anyway. But I'm on my last warning, Boom."

"_Don't take any more risks," _he told her. _"I'll talk to Jack and someone'll get back to you."_

"OK," she agreed.

"_Hey—Mr Bennett's back with his family. He wanted to thank you."_

"Sure." Nova hung up the phone, slipping away to rejoin her work party.

_At least this is doing some good, _she thought as she bent back to her work.

* * *

It felt odd, Claire thought, to sit openly and not worry about being seen. In the days before D'MAPA and the AAS, she'd been well known as Nathan Petrelli's daughter. When the DMA was founded she had gone on record as supporting Nathan, openly as a Meta. She was by his side through his career, right up to a few months ago when Matt had woken her in the middle of the night and hastened her away.

That was only the start. They'd stopped in half a dozen places before Boston; Peter kept as much information as he could from her, controlling her, and even when she'd found out what was happening…and that was Micah's doing; there was no way to keep information from him…he'd twisted it, lying to keep her with him. Even after Boston, when she'd woken to find Matt and Peter arguing over whether it was worth bringing Isaac with them, she'd still believed in him. She'd argued for Isaac, of course; ill as he was, overdosed and barely coherent, he was still _theirs_, and Peter had backed down and taken him with them to San Diego.

And then she'd been sent with Matt to search for new bases for their growing army, and Zach had found them. And…maybe because she was away from Peter…she'd finally realised what was happening.

She was currently sitting on the steps of the town hall…or what had been the town hall…in a town called Laurence, in Kansas. Not Texas, not her home, but pretty close. Laurence had been pretty well decimated early in the war, during the attacks on Texas and its' surrounds, and she hadn't seen many people in the two days she'd been sitting here.

Not until now, anyway.

"Hey, Matt," she called brightly, watching him wander down the street towards her. There was no sign of a car; he must have parked at least two blocks away, probably afraid she'd see him coming and run.

"Hey, Claire." He paused at the base of the steps, watching her. "What're you doing?"

"Thinking." She leaned forward, propping her elbows on her knees.

"About what?"

"My dad. Peter. Bridge. You."

"Me?" Matt wandered up the steps towards her. Claire didn't react, watching him carefully. "What about me, Claire?"

"I was thinking…you know we thought my dad was dead. And he's not. If someone belonging to you was alive, your family or your friends, who would you want it to be?"

"Claire…" Matt tilted his head, pausing. "Why can't I hear you?"

"Magic." She rose to her feet, backing carefully up the steps. Matt paced her, following her up and pausing when she did. "Who would you bring back, Matt? If you could?"

"We're going home now," he said firmly.

"Home? What home, Matt? Do you mean the base? Have you had to move yet? Bridge was planning an attack, I know."

Matt hesitated. "Claire…"

"I'm not going with you, Matt. I just wanted to talk to you."

"And say what? Ask about my family? They're dead, all right. My wife died when Bridge attacked LA."

Claire shook her head, smiling. "No."

"No…what. No, Bridge didn't attack? He did, I saw it."

"No, your wife didn't die."

Matt stared at her. "I saw her grave."

"You saw _a_ grave. Not Janice's. She didn't die, she's Fifth Column. She has been from the start. All the time."

"You're lying." Matt turned away, all but jumping down the steps.

The few people in the street, people he'd taken for the couple of refugees still holding on, had shed their disguises and were standing in the street on both sides, watching him. Matt recognized Boom, standing a little apart from the others.

Spinning back to Claire, he demanded "Is this it? You're going to, what, attack me?"

"We're not going to attack you," Boom told him.

"You are a traitor," Matt said flatly.

Boom frowned. "You'd rather I was following Bridge?"

"No!"

"Then who did I betray? I was never _on_ your side, Matt."

"We helped you," Matt protested. "We protected you."

"You held us while you tried to figure out how to use Sam," Boom said flatly. "It was never about us."

"Matt." Claire had come down the steps and was standing behind him, watching. "We're not here to fight you. You know that. You're not sensing any hostility, right? Or, not much, anyway."

"You brought me here," he murmured.

"Yeah."

"That's why we could suddenly see you. You let us. You wanted me?"

"Just you, Matt." She looked past him, and he turned to follow her gaze.

Janice was standing beside Boom.

Matt was vaguely aware of Boom ordering everyone else away; Boom himself slipped out of Matt's field of vision, circling behind him to meet Claire, and Matt could see only Janice.

She came carefully towards him, pausing several steps away; she wasn't wearing the blockers Boom had designed and he could hear her mind racing, flying from one thought to another too quickly for him to catch them.

"Janice," he murmured.

"Matt," she answered. Her fingers were twisting nervously together, and without thinking he stepped forward to grip them.

Janice flinched from his touch.

Matt found himself on his knees without remembering falling, face wet with tears; Janice was beside him, crying every bit as hard as he was. "Oh god, Janice," he murmured.

"Don't," she whispered. "Just don't, Matt. It's over."

"Over," he agreed, voice muffled as he buried his head in her shoulder.

After a minute she shifted, pulling back. "Someone wants to meet you," she murmured.

"What?" Matt dragged an arm across his face. "Janice…"

"Claire?" Janice called.

Matt sat back on his heels, bewildered. Janice's thoughts were flying again and he couldn't pick anything out; Claire and Boom were silent thanks to the blockers.

Claire moved carefully past him, joining Janice and hunkering gingerly. There was a bundle in her arms, and for a long moment Matt couldn't bring himself to recognize it, though he'd known straight away.

"Matt," Janice said quietly, "this is Amy." And she folded back the blanket to reveal Matt's daughter.

* * *

Peter Petrelli stared out his window, trying to gather his thoughts. The war with Carson was in something of a stalemate at the moment, which was frustrating. He'd thought he'd have been able to bring the boy down by now, former power ranger or not.

"Peter," Matt said quietly, catching his attention. He I't heard the other man come in.

"Yes Matt?" he replied. "Did you find Claire?"

Matt shook his head. "No. If she was there she was long gone by the time I reached Laurence. Dead end."

Peter sighed, leaning back in his chair. "That's too bad. But," he continued, "it's not like we really need her, not when I can tap into her abilities whenever I need to. Was that all?"

Matt shook his head again. "No. Isaac's painting something. You might want to take a look."

Peter gave his one-time bodyguard a hard look. Was there something… off about him? He didn't try probing Matt though, the telepath would catch onto him too easily, so he stood and gestured at the door. "Shall we?"

On seeing the painting though, Peter dismissed his doubts about Matt. The other man had been right after all – he had needed to see this: Carson on his knees, clutching at his head while being held in place by Tate and Landors. Now he just needed to make sure this happened, that nothing would interfere.


	14. Chapter 14

Kyoshiro--I would if I could find it! It's not on your profile, or at least I couldn't see it. What's it called?

Chapter 14

Sky tapped his foot impatiently as he waited for the call to go through. _Come on_, he thought in irritation, _pick up the phone already_. He'd made his way to Angel Grove and made himself a pain in the ass at the local AAS recruitment drive until they'd agreed to put a call in to Bridge. Oh, they didn't _say_ it was him, but they didn't have to. Finally someone seemed to have answered the phone because the unfortunate kid behind the desk was stuttering nervously and giving him jumpy looks, as if he was just waiting for the pin to drop.

"Ah," the kid said, "she wants to talk to you."

Sky felt his eyebrow drift up. 'She' huh? Syd or Z then. He took the phone and casually leant back against the nearest wall. "Hello Z," he said calmly.

"Sky," came the even response. "What are you doing?"

"Currently? Talking to you."

"Don't try to be funny, Sky. It doesn't suit you."

"Z, I'm hurt you think that."

"Whatever. What are you up to?"

"I want to talk Bridge, Z. Put him on."

"I don't think so. Anything you have to say to Bridge, you can say to me first."

He shrugged. "Fine. Tell him Peter Petrelli's coming for him, then, and bringing D'MAPA with him."

There was a long pause. "Why are you telling us this?" Z asked suspiciously. "You and Jack joined up with D'MAPA weeks ago."

"True," he agreed. "At the time it was the lesser of two evils, but things have changed over the past few days. Isaac's been painting again. It shows Peter winning and Bridge…" his voice trailed off. "Whatever's already happened, Bridge is still my friend, Z. I don't want that to happen to him, you understand that?"

"What about Jack?"

He snorted derisively. "Jack thinks the painting's the only way things'll work out. He's with Peter on this one."

There was another pause, only this time there was also the sound of hushed, heated voices away from the phone. "There's a statue dedicated to the rangers who defeated Astronema and Dark Spectre at the centre of town," Z said finally. "Be there in an hour."

"Not a problem. See you then."

* * *

"Matt," Peter shouted cheerfully. "Get everyone together. We're going to put an end to the AAS. No more obstacles." 

Matt nodded and pulled out his phone, gathering D'MAPA for the final showdown.

* * *

"Nathan," Mohinder said softly, catching the congressman's attention easily. "Boom just called. Everything's in place." 

The elder Petrelli brother nodded slowly and stood from his desk. "Time to go."

* * *

Sky leant against the statue, outwardly relaxed, waiting for Bridge and his coterie to arrive. God, he hoped this crazy idea would work.

* * *

Waiting for the fight to come to him, Jack was reluctantly discovering, was very different from taking the fight to the other side, as he'd done throughout his Ranger career. He'd gotten a message from Boom to say that the Fifth Column was in place, and that Nathan had arrived and was waiting. Sky was already waiting for Bridge and the others, and Jack himself was standing with Peter and his inner circle. 

The other difference this time around was that Sky was gone and Jack was feeling the lack of someone on his team. Although all of D'MAPA was technically on the same side he knew of at least five different factions within the group and that wasn't even counting Nova or himself. The only thing holding this group together was Peter, and he was currently ruling by fear; save for a few die-hard followers, his people followed him because they were afraid not to, not because they wanted to. It was a weakness the Fifth Column were planning to take advantage of.

To keep himself from pacing…he couldn't help but feel that Peter was amused by his restlessness, even as he talked with Matt…he wondered idly how many people had betrayed someone since this whole thing had started. He wasn't worried about Peter overhearing; with Matt's help, the second generation of Boom's blockers projected innocuous thoughts rather than nothing. Peter had been doing something similar to Matt, projecting worry and fear instead of the megalomania that was now taking hold.

_Firstly, _he thought, _Bridge and Peter betrayed us. Matt betrayed Nathan and now he's betraying Peter. Claire's gone through all of us, and who was that woman Matt told us about? Niki, yeah. She skipped out to join Bridge and Micah, and took DL with her…Sky and I are betraying Peter, technically._

Shaking his head firmly, he decided that if he got into the 'technicallys' he'd be here all night.

"There!" A call went up from the sentries and Peter gathered his inner circle with a look.

_You could have been great, Peter, _Jack thought with genuine regret. The younger Petrelli had his brother's drive to help without the arrogance that hampered Nathan's efforts.

Jack shook his head again, hardening his thoughts. Peter would have the chance to be great again. That was what they were here to ensure.

Peter's inner circle now consisted of Matt, Hiro and Ando, Isaac, though he was almost too weak to stand, and Jack himself. Sadly reduced from the beginning of the war, and due to be sharply undermined when the battle begun.

"Call Sky," Peter told Jack. "Warn him."

"He'll know. If I call him now I risk Bridge knowing. Anyway…" He glanced over his shoulder at the main body of Peter's men. "Whoever's trying to raise that storm is killing all the comms." The static in the air was rendering all the phones and communicators useless. Peter had ordered the storm raised anyway on the assumption that it would inconvenience D'MAPA more than them; Bridge had no telepaths among his group and the loss of communications would hurt him.

Peter crooked a finger, and Jack's morpher flew out of his pocket. Matt caught it instinctively, staring blankly at it before realising what it was and tossing it back to Jack. "Call him," Peter repeated.

"The interference…"

"Doesn't bother them." Peter wasn't smiling any more. "I know they'll work through it. Call him."

Mentally sighing, Jack opened the morpher. Idly he wondered what thoughts Peter was getting from the implant now. Obviously nothing too suspicious, or he'd have denounced him already. Jack had no desire to be on the wrong end of Hiro Nakamura's sword.

"Blue, y'there? It's Red."

"Blue and red?" Peter repeated quietly.

"Ranger colours," Jack said briefly. He didn't bother explaining that Sky had been both while he himself had only been Red. "Blue?"

He was about to close the morpher and try and brush Peter off when it crackled. _"Yeah, Red."_

"We have visual on Bridge."

"_Yeah, so do I. You need to stop talking to me now."_

"Blue…"

A pause, and Jack silently hoped Sky got it this time.

"_Red, I need radio silence."_

"Acknowledged," Jack agreed, flipping the morpher shut before Peter could protest. "He's ready."

Peter glared, but he couldn't take the time to do anything else; Bridge and his group had stopped on the other side of the square. Syd and Z fanned out, circling the statue to stand out of Sky's field of vision, watching for any surprises he had planned. Wunderkind spread out to bracket Bridge, staying behind him.

"Sky," Bridge said genially.

"Bridge." Sky looked past him. "Hey, Sam. Nova. And you're Micah, right?"

Micah didn't answer, watching Bridge for the tiny moves that would launch Wunderkind into battle. Sam, at least, looked uncomfortable; there was enough SPD left in him to want to acknowledge someone he still saw as a superior officer. But he didn't respond either. And Nova—who alone, out of everyone here, was still wearing her SPD uniform—only tipped her head, not acknowledging him apart from that.

"Z says you warned us about the attack," Bridge said conversationally.

Sky nodded, reaching into an inside pocket. Wunderkind tensed, and he very slowly withdrew a picture and offered it to Bridge.

Bridge took it and glanced at it curiously; the photo was obviously hastily taken and at an odd tilt, showing Bridge on his knees while obscuring the two figures holding him there.

"Peter doesn't let the pictures out of his sight," Sky said, anticipating the complaint. "That was the best I could do."

"And Jack?" Bridge asked, tucking the picture carefully into a pocket.

Sky hesitated. "Jack…"

"Is waiting over there with Peter to attack us," Bridge finished for him.

Sky didn't blink. "Yeah."

"I'm disappointed, Sky."

"Are you? I'm not." Sky stepped away from the statue to give himself some room. "Bridge, just…"

Bridge, anticipating him, took two steps back, out of his reach. "Don't do that, Sky. Wouldn't want you fighting a headache right now."

"Pick a side, Sky," Syd said suddenly. Sky jumped; the girls had been so silent he'd almost forgotten they were there. Despite everything he couldn't persuade himself they were really enemies; not Syd, who he'd trained with for so long, or Z, who'd spearheaded the We-Quit-If-He-Goes movement back at SPD.

"Choose someone to follow," Z added. He fought back a shudder; the girls were eerily monotone and if he hadn't been looking at them he wouldn't have know who was talking.

"I'm not on a side," he protested. "I just want to…"

"The Fifth Column are going to lose, you know," Bridge said mildly.

Sky carefully didn't look at Nova, or beyond her to where he knew Boom and Piggy were lurking. "Are they?"

"Boom's no leader. And Piggy'll run the second things turn bad. He always does."

"Piggy saved your life," Sky pointed out mildly. He'd managed to manoeuvre himself out of the circle and they'd regrouped, Syd and Z flanking Bridge, Wunderkind in front of them.

"Piggy put us in danger in the first place," Bridge retorted.

Sky nodded slowly. "And Peter?"

"Peter Petrelli couldn't herd geese, let alone lead men," Z said bitterly. "He's got them snowed, but they won't stay with him."

Tilting her head, and for just a moment looking exactly like she used to, Syd added, "Matt's left him already."

Across the square, Jack closed his eyes in a silent groan before spinning with everyone else to stare at Matt. Hiro and Ando had already flanked him; Hiro's sword was in hand, though he wasn't quite threatening anyone.

And Jack grinned mentally as he realised why. Of all the Meta Peter had drawn together, of everyone who followed him, only Matt and Claire talked to him on any kind of regular basis. Everyone else got their orders through Matt and they were struggling to understand what was going on now, more used to obeying Matt than Peter.

"Matt," Peter murmured, looking genuinely hurt.

"That's a lie, Peter. You know I would never go against you. Never hurt you. You _know _that."

Peter considered him for a long moment before nodding to Hiro, who sheathed his sword and stepped away. Jack grimaced, glancing back at Sky.

Things on that side of the square were deteriorating. Sky's shield was up, and two Zs were hammering on it. Behind that group, and unnoticed by anyone on that side, the Fifth Column were moving into position.

"Time to end this," Peter said abruptly, and D'MAPA poured around him and into the square, meeting Bridge's AAS fighters with a crash Jack felt more than heard.

This was it. Time for the final battle.


	15. Chapter 15

Author's note: Hey, Kyoshiro-King! glad you're still enjoying. :)

Chapter Fifteen

It was surprisingly hard for Jack and Sky to find each other, though they'd been at most thirty feet apart when the fighting started. Fighters on both sides immediately started clouding things; hail was falling in a circle about ten feet across, hard enough to bruise anyone who tried to cross it. Someone else was blinding opponents with what looked like glitter…and Jack took half a second to mourn the fact that a harmless power like that, like creating glitter, was being used in a war instead of at children's parties where it belonged. Across the square, somewhere on Peter's side, things were exploding, and someone in Boom's group was creating trees out of nothingness. Jack ignored all of it, searching for someone, anyone he knew.

He saw Sam, from a distance; the boy was calmly teleporting people away. Jack hoped for Sam's own sake that he was sending them away somewhere safe, and not rematerialising them inside a wall or anything like that. Sam didn't see him, luckily.

Boom plunged through his field of vision in an obvious hurry, Piggy on his heels. Both were gone before Jack could get their attention, and he grimaced and kept going.

Sky actually was the next person he found. The Zs who had been attacking him had vanished into the mêlée and he was currently using his shield to keep a D'MAPA fighter away from an AAS member. Jack phased through it without even really noticing.

"Where the hell is everyone?" he yelled, almost directly into Sky's ear. Sky glanced over his shoulder, jerking his chin skywards, and Jack looked up to see Nathan Petrelli hovering above them.

"That's Isaac's painting," Nova said breathlessly, skidding to a halt just before she would have crashed into Sky's shield. Sky dropped it briefly, lifting it around all three of them again. "He painted it in Boston, just before we were attacked." Glancing upwards, she added, "Only time I saw Peter upset, when he thought that was Nathan. He didn't want him involved."

Jack frowned, glancing at Sky. "Any idea where Mohinder is?"

"I don't know where _we _are." Sky was sweating, the effort of keeping his shield around all three of them exhausting him. "I can't see anything."

The murk around them cleared, for just an instant, and Nova suddenly saw Bridge, standing ten feet away and staring at them. "Sky," she murmured, "hit me, and let me out." As she spoke, she thumped against the shield.

The whole thing wavered and almost fell; Sky gasped, pulling it back together, and rounded on her with real anger. "Nova…!"

"Bridge is watching, hit me, drop the shield and shove me out!" She banged it again; this time Sky grasped what she meant, slapping her hard enough to snap her head back and dropping the shield so that when she staggered back a step, she fell out of it.

Sky and Jack immediately moved off; Nova caught her balance, glancing around in desperation. Spotting Bridge, she bee-lined for him immediately. "Bridge!"

"Not now, Nova. Go fight someone."

"But, Bridge…"

Someone knocked into her from behind, she stumbled forward, and the hand she threw out for balance landed on Bridge's bare arm.

* * *

Peter, watching the fight from the other side of the square, felt a surge but couldn't pin it down. His telepathic perception was thrown wide, covering the whole square, and he couldn't narrow it in time.

"What was that?" he yelled to Matt, who shrugged helplessly.

"I can't tell! Something twisted!"

Peter looked up suddenly, catching movement in the corner of his eye, and glowered when he realised what it was. "Stay here," he ordered, rocketing upwards.

"What are you doing here, Nathan?" he demanded, hovering near his brother. They were high enough that the air had started to thin; Peter had to yell to be heard and he was aware that he was working harder than usual to stay up. It wasn't bothering him yet, but Nathan had to be struggling.

"Looking for a way to _end _this," Nathan told him. Peter drifted a little closer, struggling to hear.

"It'll end when we wipe out the AAS. Everything'll be fine then."

"Peter…"

"Nathan." Peter shook his head. "I'm taking care of you. I'm taking care of _us_, all of us. This is the best way." He looked down at the war zone beneath their feet. "How'd you get Matt to betray me?"

His tone was mildly interested, not angered. Nathan choose to take that as a good sign. "Janice. And his daughter."

"Janice," Peter repeated slowly. "And Claire left me for her father, and Niki and DL went after Micah…see a pattern here, Nathan? Maybe I should only recruit people with no relatives."

"You'll have to disqualify yourself," Nathan pointed out.

"Or become an only child," Peter agreed, but his voice wasn't quite as calm as he was probably hoping it was.

"Yeah," Nathan breathed. "Can you do that, Pete? Could you take me out?" He coughed, choking on the thinner air, and Peter realised abruptly that they were drifting higher.

"What are you doing, Nathan? Come down."

Nathan shook his head, calming his breathing through sheer force of will. "Stop this. Now."

"Nathan." Peter's voice hardened. **"Come down."**

Nathan drifted lower without meaning to, Peter's words compelling him. "Peter, how does…"

"Didn't remember I met Eden once, did you." Peter's eyes were very bright. "Don't make me do that again, Nathan. Just come down here."

Nathan didn't, but he didn't go any higher either. "Do you even see what you've become? Peter…" He drifted closer, one hand outstretched. 

Peter was staring at the ground again, starting to drop out of Nathan's reach. "Get back to Mohinder and get out of here. I mean it, Nathan, you're pushing me now."

He didn't wait for Nathan to answer, heading back to the knot of people on the ground.

* * *

Jack was starting to hope this might work. Nova was hanging grimly onto Bridge's arm, even though he was on his knees and incapable of pulling away. Jack and Sky were supporting him on either side, watching at the same time for Syd or Z or Hiro or basically anyone on any side. The last thing they needed was Syd or Z to break them up before this could work, or Peter to attack them.

_Wonder what Peter would think of that,_ he thought idly, shifting as Bridge thrashed. _If he stopped us from changing Bridge back. It'd be ironic, anyway. We're taking out his only real opponent here…_

Bridge's tremors were easing and Jack risked letting go with one hand to tug Nova away. She stumbled to her feet, retreating to lean on the nearest semi-intact piece of wall; she seemed almost as worn out as Bridge was. Boom, who'd been watching carefully, moved back to join her, making sure she was alright.

"Bridge?" Jack said carefully. Sky hadn't let go, so Jack loosened his grip to hunker in front of his teammate. "You with us?"

"I don't know," Bridge said dazedly. "Who are you and where are we?"

Jack glanced up, catching Sky's gaze. "He doesn't sound evil."

"He doesn't sound _coherent_," Sky pointed out. "Not that that's new."

"Maybe we should…"

Nova cut herself off when Peter landed, glaring at them. Boom took a step forward, watching carefully, staying between them; Nova was still shaky, unable to even keep on her feet. Nathan was behind Peter, though he landed a little further away, and Matt and Mohinder converged on them moments later.

Peter stared at Bridge; Sky shifted into a ready stance behind him, and Jack rose to his feet in front of him.

"That's what it meant," he murmured. "I thought it was your end, but it's not, is it."

"Depends what you mean," Jack commented mildly. "Bridge-head-of-the-AAS is over."

"We hope," Sky muttered, too quietly for anyone else to hear it.

Peter rounded on Nathan. "Is that what you want for me?" He gestured at Bridge, still too groggy to really know what was going on, and Nova who was finally on her feet but hanging onto Boom for support.

"I want this over!" Nathan motioned at the fighting, which had migrated towards the far end of the square now. "This is what we were trying to _stop_."

"It was painted. It has to happen." Peter glanced around, pointing to where Isaac was barely visible in a nearby alley, out of anyone's line of fire. He was desperately trying to draw on the wall, but all he had was a marker and it wouldn't mark for him. Claire and Zach were crouched beside him, trying to get his attention long enough to get him away. "He's drawing it now."

"He's not," Bridge murmured. Jack half-turned, looking at him. "He's drawing the end of this."

Peter smiled faintly. "What's it show?"

"The end of the fighting."

"The end of the fighting? And what happens then?" Peter turned his head to glare at Nathan, who was trying to sneak up on him. "Stop that."

"Peter…"

"**Stop that."**

Nathan grimaced, turning away, and Peter turned back to Bridge. "What happens then, Bridge? At the end of the fighting?"

"I don't know, I can't see from over here," Bridge pointed out reasonably. Looking at Sky, he added, "Where are the others?"

"We haven't seen them. Haven't seen anyone for a while."

"Piggy's following the girls," Boom offered. "That was his job—actually he volunteered."

"That would help if we knew where Piggy was," Jack said dryly. "And that doesn't surprise me."

Peter stared disbelievingly at them. "This is what you're worried about right now? Your girls. I'm standing right here."

Bridge glanced disinterestedly at him, turning to scan the field. "Things have to be right."

"Peter," Nathan said softly. He hadn't come any closer, caught by Peter's order.

Peter turned, absently deflecting an attack away from his brother. "This is for you, Nathan! For all of us! We shouldn't have to _hide_."

"We weren't hiding, Peter!"

"You were."

Nathan flinched. "That was political, not personal." He risked a step forward; Peter let him do it, watching closely. "I was never afraid, Peter. Only for you. When you were so sick. That's all."

Jack watched them; he couldn't hear what they were saying from here, but Nathan was occupying Peter's attention nicely. "We need Matt," he told the group around him. "And you need to call the AAS off," he added, looking at Bridge.

"I need…" Bridge trailed off, looking at his hands. "Where are my gloves?"

"You're just noticing that now?" Jack muttered.

"You haven't been wearing your gloves for months," Sky told him. "You don't remember that?"

"No…" Bridge wrapped his arms around himself, tucking his hands into his armpits. "I don't. Why not?"

"You were evil at the time." Jack shrugged. "Said you didn't need them."

Nova glanced up as Sam skidded to a halt, staring at the group. "Bridge, what is…"

"Cadet!" Nova said sharply, and Sam snapped to attention out of habit. "Stand back."

"No…" Bridge gestured him forward, reaching out to lay a hand on his shoulder.

Sam jerked, stiffening and pulling away, stumbling backwards until Nova steadied him. Bridge was just as affected, slumping against Sky, and Peter swung around and glared at them.

"Uh-oh," Jack muttered, looking for Boom. "Boom, get the kids away."

Boom didn't move: Jack didn't have time to worry about it as Peter spun on Nathan. "This is the plan? You're _changing_ us? Are you that afraid of me, Nathan?"

"I'm not afraid of you," Nathan told him, and Jack wondered idly if he was really as sincere as he seemed or if it was his political training shining through. "I've never been afraid of you. You know that, Pete."

Peter stared at him, eyes going slightly out of focus. "You're trying to make us different. Make me what you want me to be. This is who I am, Nathan!"

"No, Peter. This is what Primatech made us." Bridge took an unsteady step towards his rival.

"No." Peter backed away from them, away from Nathan. "No!" And he took off straight up.

"Shit," Jack muttered. "Nathan, don't!"

Nathan hesitated a few feet off the ground. "That's Peter up there. You really want to find out what he can do when he gets pissed off?"

"No, I want you to find Matt and bring him with you. _Do _it," he added, when Nathan started to argue. "Matt knows how to save Peter. Boom," he continued, turning to the tech, "did you give Piggy a communicator?" Peripherally he noticed Nathan take off again, but he wasn't chasing Peter at least. 

"He lost it yesterday," Boom said apologetically. "And I didn't have time to make another. But I have something else." He rummaged through his pockets, pulling out three items. "Morphers all round."

Bridge took his, smiling at the green trim, but neither Sam nor Nova made a move.

"Those are yours, kids," Jack told them. "Sky and I have ours."

"We have morphers," Nova protested.

Boom shook his head. "Those are designed as a six man team. These aren't. Sam?"

"This is Omega, right?" Sam murmured, taking his gingerly. He'd never met his older counterpart, but he knew the story.

"It's Omega," Sky agreed. "And Nova," he added, glancing at the girl.

"Nova Ranger? Did you run out of names?" she asked, fitting the band around her wrist.

"Nova Ranger came to take Omega home, during the fight for SPD," Jack told her. "She was his friend and she came back for him."

Nova didn't answer, studying her morpher far more intently than it really needed. Jack gave her about three seconds to get over it before announcing, "All right. We need to find the girls…and you need to start calling your AAS guys off, Bridge."

"D'MAPA seems to be falling apart," Sky noted, studying the fight.

"Still. Let's go," Jack said firmly.


	16. Chapter 16

Author's note: RL sucks. Sorry this has been so long. There's an epilogue after this; we're almost there!

Chapter 16

"Don't bother, Nathan," Peter warned as he stood in front of the waste disposal plant, right on the edge of the city, his hands glowing with radioactive power. "You won't stop me."

Nathan didn't react beyond raising his eyebrows at his brother, Matt standing at his shoulder. "You sure about this, Pete?" was all he asked.

"Only way, Nathan."

"Only way for what?"

"Leave, Nathan. Go to Europe, find Heidi. You'll be safe there."

"Safe from what? You? You really going to do this, Peter? Destroy an entire city because you're a little annoyed?"

"I'm not annoyed!" Peter snapped, his hands glowing brighter. "Why would I be annoyed when everyone I trusted betrayed me? Huh? Answer me that!"

Nathan flinched inwardly at the pain in Peter's voice. "Pete--"

"Peter, we're trying to help you," Matt interjected. "It wasn't--"

"**SHUT UP!**" Peter screamed and Matt fell silent, struggling against the power in the mental command. "I am _tired_ of listening to you!" Peter continued. "I'm strong now, Nathan. Stronger than you, stronger than both of you. And you're in my way."

"So what are you going to do about that, Pete? Kill us?"

"Not if I don't have to. Which is why you need to leave."

Matt stepped forward but Nathan put a hand out to stop him. "Not happening, Pete. I'm not leaving you."

"Go to your family, Nathan."

"My family's here. I'm not going."

Peter laughed bitterly, the light around his hands flaring briefly. "Family. Yeah right. You've always tried to run my life, Nathan, but not anymore. I'm taking back control, Nathan. Starting now."

"I've never tried to control you, Pete," Nathan replied, inching closer to his little brother. "I just wanted what was best for you."

"Oh, that's a good one," Peter shot back. "Tell me Nathan, how did announcing to the media that I was supposedly suicidal best for me? Or denying what we are and making me think I was going nuts, how was that _best_ for me?"

"Everyone makes mistakes, Peter. I've made my share, I won't deny that, but you never used to doubt that I care about you."

For a moment Peter's expression flickered, the radioactive light dying briefly before strengthening once more. "You're doing it again," he hissed. "Trying to make me weak. Are you that afraid of me being strong, Nathan? That you'd deliberately try and bring me down?"

"Just trying to help, Pete." Peter had said that before, asking if he was afraid. He wondered what that meant. If it meant anything at all.

"Like Tate and Landors 'helped' Carson? No thanks, I don't need that kind of help. I don't need _any_ kind of help. Not anymore."

Suddenly the light around Peter intensified, wind whipping around them in response. "Peter you need to stop!" Nathan shouted through the howl of the vortex.

"You need to leave."

"I'm not leaving," he repeated, stepping towards his brother and flinching briefly as he walked into the radioactive storm.

"Stop it, Nathan! I don't want to hurt you."

"If you want to destroy the city you'll have to kill me first. No other way, Pete."

Peter screamed in frustration as Nathan stepped forward again. "What are you _doing_, Nathan? Do you _want_ to die?"

"Just trying to help, Peter. That's all."

"_Leave!_"

"No."

"**Leave**."

He stopped moving momentarily, his feet obeying a command other than his own before he forced them to start moving again. "Don't try that, Peter. I'm not leaving you."

Raising an arm above his face in a futile attempt to shield himself against the raw power being blasted in his face he continued his path towards Peter.

"Nathan, stop." The words were quiet, a whisper in the howling wind.

"Can't do that." He wondered briefly where Matt was. If he was hanging back, waiting to see if Nathan could stop this, or if he'd gone to warn everyone else what was happening, maybe try and start up an impromptu evacuation of the ruined city. Not that they'd get many people out if Peter went all-out nuclear. With an internal start of surprise he realised he'd almost reached his brother, if he just…

He reached out and touched Peter's arm, grabbing hold of it tightly as he stepped into Peter's personal space. There was another howl of frustration as he pulled his brother into a bear hug, contact they hadn't shared for what seemed like forever. He braced himself against the searing power, power that lashed at him like flame, burning him inside and out. "Not leaving."

The howl of the vortex rose to a crescendo. Then there was nothing.

The first thing he really noticed after that was that he was hunkered down in an awkward crouch, Peter lying in his arms apparently out cold. The next thing he noticed was the shadow looming out of the corner of his eye and he jerked round instantly, despite the fact that Peter's dead weight made any kind of response impossible. As it turned out though, a fight was the last thing he was confronted with, Matt hunkering down next to them and placing a hand on Peter's head. While part of him rebelled against such a personal touch, Nathan stayed quiet. He was pretty sure this was what Landors had meant when he said Matt knew how to save Pete and he wasn't fool enough to interfere with that.

After a brief moment Matt withdrew his hand and sighed quietly. "Well, that's that."

"You did it? Fixed him?"

"I undid what Primatech did to him in the first place. Whether that counts as fixed I don't know."

"So now what?"

Matt shrugged before meeting his gaze. "Now we wait."

* * *

It seemed like forever before Peter opened his eyes and when he did, he blinked slowly at Nathan before smiling. It was a smile he hadn't seen for a long time, a smile for an adored older brother that could do no wrong and his heart ached at the look. Peter hadn't looked at him like that for years. "Hi," he said quietly and the smile grew.

"Hi."

"How'd you feel, Pete?"

Peter frowned. "A little tired, I guess. Why…" He trailed off. "Oh my god," he whispered, his eyes squeezing shut. "Please don't tell me I did what I think I did."

He stayed silent and Peter's expression crumpled further.

"It's in the past now," he said. "But the rest of D'MAPA is still out there fighting. You need to call them off, Peter. End the fighting before it goes too far and can't be stopped."

Peter nodded, face resolute as he stood, both Nathan and Matt hovering and trying to pretend they weren't. "Because I'm the only one who can," he said quietly.

Nathan nodded. "D'MAPA will only listen to you. Like the AAS answered only to Carson."

"Bridge," Peter murmured softly. "Is he okay?"

"He's fine. Calling off the AAS as we speak."

"And now it's my turn."

* * *

It wasn't long after that when Peter landed back in the square with Nathan and Matt behind him. The telepathic "Stand down" command had taken a lot out of him, especially weakened as he was, and he sank onto the nearest intact bench as soon as he landed.

Nathan wasn't doing much better: he'd absorbed a hefty dose of Peter's radiation, and the adrenaline that had allowed him to ignore it was wearing off now. Matt, who'd only been on the edge of the inferno, had caught a much lighter dose and was fine so far.

The AAS had withdrawn to the north, and D'MAPA to the south. Boom's Fifth Column were stationed between them, watching, and the major players—Boom and Zach, Claire and Isaac, all the Rangers past and present, Hiro and Ando, Mohinder—were all converging on the square.

"Looks like the cavalry's coming," Matt said, steering Nathan to the bench.

"Cavalry or Indians," Peter muttered, forcing himself to his feet. "Nathan, you ok?"

"Sure, Pete." Nathan braced his elbows on his knees, letting his hands dangle loosely.

"Nathan," Peter said again.

"Sorry, Pete. Don't think you can fix this."

Peter looked up, scanning the approaching group. His own D'MAPA lieutenants were hanging back, away from the AAS and the Fifth Column. Jack and Sky reached him first but he ignored them, looking past them at Bridge.

"Bridge, do you have a healer?"

"What?" Bridge said in surprise. For some reason he was wearing ski gloves; they should have looked ridiculous, but the whole situation was so surreal they fit right in.

"The AAS. Do you have a healer?"

Bridge looked past him at Nathan, comprehension flooding his face. "No. We didn't have anyone. I'm sorry."

"We do." The Nova Ranger stepped out from behind Sky, Omega at her shoulder. "SPD can help him, if you drop the barricade."

Peter blinked, taking a step back without thinking. The move brought him within arm's length of Nathan, who reached out to snag his sleeve. "You'd do that?"

"You were gonna trust Bridge," Jack pointed out.

"Yeah, but…" Peter shook his head, turning to look for Hiro. "Hiro, can you go find Hana and…actually, never mind. Matt, can you do it?...You ok?"

"Dizzy," Matt muttered. "It's nothing. I'll do it."

"No. Hiro." Peter gestured to Hiro, who closed his eyes and vanished.

"What's wrong with him?" Syd asked, taking a step forward.

"Radiation poisoning," Matt told her. Syd stopped, eyes wide, and he added, "Me too."

"What about you?" Sky asked Peter.

"No. It doesn't affect me, and anyway I can heal."

"Claire?" Matt called as Nathan leaned back, sprawling.

"Here…" Claire pushed through the group, coming to kneel beside him.

Peter glanced back the way she'd come, wincing when his gaze met Isaac's. The artist was leaning heavily on Zach, who held him up without flinching. "Ando," Peter said, gesturing for him to help, and added to Nova, "You might take Isaac as well."

"What's wrong with him?" Omega asked. His helmet distorted his voice, rendering it oddly flat.

"He…" Peter bit his lip, looking back at Nathan. That didn't help, and he looked at Omega again. "He's in withdrawal. Heroin."

Z stirred at that. She'd been standing silently at Bridge's shoulder, one hand in Jack's, but now she lifted her head, frowning. "I thought he was clean."

"He was," Claire said, voice unexpectedly bitter. Peter flinched again, turning and pacing a couple of uneasy steps away, tearing his sleeve out of Nathan's grip without even really realising. Nathan's hand hovered in mid air for a moment before Claire gently pulled it down.

No one missed the way the group melted out of Peter's path. He didn't go far, stopping almost dead and staring fiercely at the remains of the statue.

Hiro reappeared, glancing around before bowing to Nova. "Blocking is gone now."

Nova lifted her wrist, touching the morpher embedded there. "SPD Command, this is Nova Ranger."

There was a long pause; Omega was starting to lift his own morpher when the answer came through. "Nova Ranger, this is Commander Cruger. Report."

Peter half-listened to Nova request a medi-evac for Nathan, Matt and Isaac. Most of his attention was on his hand, flashing blue as Sky's forcefield shimmered back and forth.

"Peter."

He turned to see Bridge behind him. Jack was at his shoulder; the others were gathered at an awkward distance from Nathan and Matt.

"You ok?" Jack asked, watching the forcefield flare.

"You care?" It should have sounded angry, or bitter, or anything except defeated.

Jack shrugged, glancing around. "Someone has to. They're not exactly fighting for the chance."

Peter grimaced, shaking his hand. The forcefield died away, but his hand went through the nearest piece of debris. "This isn't…this doesn't happen anymore."

"Overload?" Bridge asked.

"Overload," Peter agreed wearily. "What are the chances you're gonna let me walk out of here?"

He was addressing Jack, who frowned. "What are the chances you can go anywhere in the world and not be recognised? You're his brother, you're the über-Meta, you're D'MAPA's head, you're the guy who tried to end the world."

"I'm the guy who can change how I look, if I have to." Peter glanced up as a shuttle whined overhead, landing near the centre of the square. Another took up a guard position above them, patrolling the edges of the square. "That was fast."

"They were on the moon." Bridge sat on the edge of the statue. "Peter, we're going to stay together for a while—us, Boom, Zach. Claire, I think, and Matt. Come with us."

"Two hours ago I was trying to kill you," Peter pointed out. "_Both_ of you."

"Two hours ago it was reciprocal. SPD's not going to charge you. And I'd guess the government probably isn't either, not once Nathan gets through with them."

"They don't have to charge me with anything, they can restrict me under the Meta laws…"

"No they can't." Mohinder came to a halt at Bridge's side. "You are not on the List. And you led no attacks. As far as the world knows, you were coerced into being the face of D'MAPA."

Peter exhaled sharply, scrubbing at his face. "Mohinder, you…"

"Come with us, Peter," Mohinder said softly. "Your brother has asked that I watch you until he is well. I would rather not do that here." Glancing around, he pulled his coat closer. "It's cold. And quite filthy."

Peter looked around, biting his lip, and jumped when Bridge laid a hand on his shoulder. "There's time for making amends, Peter. Lots of time. Lots of amends. The whole of America to rebuild. Come with us, get some sleep so you don't explode with all those powers again, and tomorrow we'll worry about the rest of it."

"Yeah." Peter nodded. "Ok."


	17. Chapter 17

Author's note: And it's all over but the shouting. Thanks to everyone who reviewed.

8 months later

"Nice suit," came the voice at Sky's shoulder.

"Thanks," he replied dryly and Jack grinned.

"No offence, but aren't you in the wrong place? Wouldn't have expected to see you in this section."

He shrugged and shook his head, nonetheless shifting his gaze back to his charge. "No, Matt's guarding them both at the moment. Not that Peter really needs protecting."

"This is true." There was quiet before, "I wonder what he's thinking."

"Peter?"

"Yeah. It is kinda his fault we need a new base, after all. That SPD needs a new base," he corrected belatedly. "Oh, you know what I mean."

"Yeah."

"I wonder who the new commander will be."

"As long as it's not Birdie I think we'll be alright."

They shared grins before returning their attention to the opening ceremony of the new Delta base, rebuilt relatively quickly with help from the other branches, and they were currently surrounded by SPD past and present. Sky had surprised himself by wanting to stand here, but strangely enough it just felt right, slipping back into SPD as if he'd never left. Waiting for the twinge of bitterness that had previously accompanied thoughts of SPD, he was even more surprised when it didn't rear its head. Maybe he was finally over it, he thought with a smile.

"Heard anything from Bridge?" Jack asked casually, drawing him back to the conversation at hand and he shook his head.

"Not for a couple of weeks. Last I heard he was doing okay though. Getting his life back together, trying to make amends where he can. What about the girls?"

Jack shrugged. "They're dealing. As well as they can anyway. I think that's why they're staying away today. It wasn't exactly a good advertisement for SPD, former rangers leading attacks against the civilians they were supposed to protect."

"It wasn't their fault," Sky began heatedly and Jack glared at him.

"I know that," he snapped before his shoulders slumped slightly. "It's getting them to believe it."

"Easier said than done."

"Yeah well, you'd know," Jack muttered, shooting Sky a half-smile, taking the sting out of the words. "So," he continued. "You really sure about this?" he asked, gesturing at the suit and earpiece. "Last time you refused to have anything to do with Nathan Petrelli."

"I didn't want his help," Sky corrected. "I just work for him now. Different thing."

"If you say so. How they doing?"

His eyes tracking back over to the Petrelli brothers and Matt, Sky tilted his head thoughtfully. "Like Syd and Z, I guess. Dealing as well as they can. Peter and Matt more than Nathan, though, he doesn't have as much blood on his hands."

Jack nodded, opened his mouth to say something but shut it again as the ceremony concluded, the cheers drowning out anything he might have said. Letting Jack tug him away from the crowds, Sky found himself in one of the few quiet areas available. "You're gonna keep in touch this time, right?" Jack asked, letting go of his wrist. "No blocking us out and playing the loner card. Washington's not so far away we can't kick your ass for ignoring us. Don't make it take another crisis for us all to get together."

Sky rolled his eyes and resisted the urge to flip the other man off. "I won't."

"Promise?" Jack asked suspiciously and Sky scowled at him. "Just checking," the former red ranger replied, hands up in innocence. "Hey, Sky," he said quickly as Sky turned to return to his new job, catching his wrist again and pulling him back. "Be careful, okay? Bodyguard isn't exactly a safe job, you know."

Sky smiled. "I know. But it's something. I can be useful there."

Jack gave him a wry grin and sighed. "Just take care of yourself, okay?"

"You too."

Slipping back into place behind the Secretary of the DMA, he nodded at Matt who stepped back behind Peter. It was time for a new beginning. Something they all needed.


End file.
